Turkish firm IC Içtaş said to get back Akkuyu plant construction deal after Erdoğan-Puting meeting

Reuters

Turkish contractor Ic İçtaş got back a deal to build a $20-billion nuclear power plant at Akkuyu in southern Turkey, two sources with information on the matter told Reuters.

Last month, Russian state nuclear energy company Rosatom terminated a contract with IC İçtaş, its Turkish partner, over "numerous violations" in the contract.

Rosatom said at the time it had a new agreement with TSM Enerji to finish work on the 4,800-megawatt plant, prompting Ankara to step in to resolve the dispute.

A source close to the company and another source familiar with the decision said IC İçtaş got the contract back, without giving further details.

IC İçtaş was not immediately available to comment.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met on Sept. 16 in Uzbekistan. Russia's IFAX agency reported that Putin told Erdoğan that agreements on power plant construction were signed on Sept. 15.

Ankara aims to start operating the first reactor at the plant before presidential and parliamentary elections in 2023. The plant is expected to produce up to 10% of Turkey's electricity once all four reactors are in operation.

Settling the construction matter could bring more funding from Rosatom - and more relief to Turkey's badly depleted foreign reserves.

After a big boost to the central bank's FX reserves in July, bankers cited inflows of some $5 billion from Russia, though authorities have not commented and do not publish such data.