Russia wires 15 billion dollars for a nuclear power plant in Turkey

A Russian state-owned company will transfer $15 billion to continue the building of a nuclear power plant in Turkey's south, eliminating worries that the project could be hampered by the war sanctions against Russia.

Rosatom Corp. has already sent around $5 billion to its subsidiary, formally known as Akkuyu Nuclear JSC, with two other similar dollar transfers arriving in the upcoming two weeks, Bloomberg said, referring to anonymous Turkish senior officials.

However, Rosatom said in a statement that the “current transactions are significantly lower” than the figure provided by the Turkish officials.

Rosatom will use some of the incoming money for its due payments and keep the rest in Turkey for two years.

The surprise transfer created fluctuation in dollar/TL exchange rate in the country that is currently in need of foreign currency, Cumhuriyet said.

One of the officials described the transfers as a goodwill gesture by Russia’s Vladimir Putin for Erdogan’s role in a landmark deal that’s expected to unlock grain exports out of Ukraine and eased concerns of a global food crisis, Bloomberg said. 

When the nuclear power plant is fully operational, it will meet 10 percent of Turkey's domestic energy need.