Türkiye is moving ahead with its first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu in partnership with Russia to expand domestic energy production and meet economic growth.
Financing delays and sanctions-related challenges are testing the resilience of the Türkiye-Russia nuclear partnership, as the two countries seek to keep the project on track for a 2028 launch.
The $20 billion plant is the first in the world to be constructed under the build-own-operate model by Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom. This raises questions about long-term Russian influence in Türkiye’s energy infrastructure.
On May 26, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed the situation at Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant (NPP) with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow (President of Russia, May 26; TASS, May 27). According to Fidan, the two discussed “how we can resolve financing issues” of the NPP, which is facing “sanctions and some problems arising” (TASS, May 29). The problems Fidan referred to are Türkiye’s $7 billion payment delay to Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation, Rosatom (Türkiye Today; Habertürk,
May 27). Türkiye has reportedly not met Rosatom’s requests for financial concessions, including exceptions from withholding tax on the payments (Türkiye Today; Habertürk, May 27). If the financing problems are resolved,
Ankara will be on schedule to operate its first NPP by the end of 2028 (Anadolu Agency, December 12, 2024). The Akkuyu NPP will be the first in the world to be constructed using the build-own-operate (BOO) model by Rosatom, which gives the Russian company the right to construct and operate the project. As Rosatom is ultimately controlled by the Kremlin, this creates a potential security risk for Türkiye and its Black Sea neighbors, while undermining Ankara’s position in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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