Russia, Turkey sign $20bn nuclear power plant deal
Thursday, 13 May, 2010
Russia's President Medvedev and Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan signed documents in Ankara. Medvedev hailed “strategic” ties with Turkey as the two sides prepared to seal a plan to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant. –Photo by AFP
Several agreements, including removing visa restrictions and shipping oil products from the Black Sea, were struck during a landmark visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Turkey, aiming to turn itself into an energy hub for European supplies. Russia has built nuclear power plants in nations from China to Iran and might build a power plant in Syria.
Nuclear agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko said state-controlled building group Atomstroiexport will lead construction of the plant on Nato member Turkey’s southern coast.
“It’s an extremely important contract for us,” Kiriyenko told journalists.
Turkey is keen to reduce its dependence on imported energy and cover a looming power shortfall. Russia provides 60 per cent of Turkey’s gas needs, which has raised concerns that Turkey is becoming too dependent on Russia, a major trading partner.
Such deals would have been inconceivable two decades ago, when Turkey guarded Nato’s eastern borders during the Cold War.
However, seeking to balance its West-facing foreign policy, Turkey has strengthened relations with Russia and other Central Asian countries in the past years.
The Russian and Turkish governments today signed an agreement that would lead to Russia building a US$20 billion nuclear power plant in Turkey, the country's first.

The plant will be built on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and construction will commence as soon as the deal is approved by both countries; the building process is expected to take around seven years. The reactor will also be owned by Russia, which will hold "no less than a controlling stake," according to , who is the head of , a Russian nuclear energy corporation.

The reactor to be built is the second proposed power plant in the same location; a separate proposal for a four-reactor complex built by a Russian-led consortium was rejected by a Turkish court last year.  Russia has attempted to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey, and the contract signed Wednesday "really looks rather impressive," according to  Dmitry Medvedev.

The contract for the reactor was one of 20 signed by the two countries today, expected to result in around US$25 billion of Russian investment in Turkey. Other major contracts signed include projects to transport Russian oil and natural gas through Turkey to ports on the Mediterranean Sea. One such project is a major pipeline between the Turkish ports of  on the Black Sea and  on the Mediterranean Sea, built in conjunction with an oil refinery in Ceyhan.

In a press conference, Russian President Medvedev said that the agreements signal "a new page in our cooperation...Our talks today showed that Turkey and Russia are strategic partners not only in words but in deeds."  Abdullah Gul said that the two countries "share a determination to increase the trade volume from a current US$38 billion to US$100 billion in five years."