Leaders of Turkey and Russia to participate in groundbreaking ceremony at the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in April - Turkish Foreign Minister

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Presidents of Russia and Turkey Vladimir Putin and Tayyip Erdogan will take part in laying the foundation of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in April, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday. "In early April, the foundation of Akkuyu, the first nuclear power plant in Turkey, will be laid and the two presidents (of Russia and Turkey) will attend it," he said speaking in front of the students and teachers of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. Cavusoglu stressed that the relations between the two countries "are developing very rapidly in all areas." "We are implementing very important infrastructure projects," the Turkish Foreign Minister noted, reminding that the parties had already agreed on the construction of the second line of the Turkish Stream pipeline. Russia, Turkey and Iran will hold a trilateral summit on the Syrian settlement in Istanbul on April 4. Russia and Turkey signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction and operation of Turkey’s first nuclear plant. The Akkuyu nuclear power plant project, estimated at $22 bln, provides for the construction of four power units of 1.2 gigawatts each near the port of Mersin in Turkey. Rostamon obtained a limited license for the construction of the Akkuyu plant in October and plans to have the general license this month. The corporation plans to start the construction in April. Currently the project is fully financed by Rosatom. The Russian state corporation has the right to sell 49% in the projects to other investors in the future. Read more