Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Russian state corporation Rosatom is interested in participating in nuclear projects in the territory of Turkey, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told journalists in Istanbul after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Taner Yildiz, Russian state news agency ITAR-TASS reports.

According to Novak, Rosatom is looking to participate in the construction of nuclear power plants in Turkey and the corporation intends to hold negotiations on related issues.

Regarding the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey's Mersin province, Novak noted that the licensing procedure for the project continues in compliance with the outlined schedule.

Turkey, which has ambitious plans to build nuclear plants over the next decade to reduce dependence on imported oil and gas, has reached an agreement with Rosatom to build a plant at Mersin on the Mediterranean coast, Reuters reports. Earlier it was reported that the Russian side intends to obtain all the required licenses and permits to begin construction work by next spring. According to Novak, pertinent financial issues are being solved.

"The funding is carried out from several sources. One of them is the Russian federal budget, while the other one -- the banks," he said.

According to Novak, Russia has asked Turkey for additional tax benefits, which, if provided, will reduce the total cost of the project.

In turn Turkish Energy Minister Yildiz, commenting on Rosatom's bid to participate in Turkish nuclear projects, namely, in the construction of a second nuclear power plant in Sinop, said that Turkey is open to any proposals.

Yildiz also said the nuclear power plant would make the greatest contribution to Turkish-Russian strategic cooperation, Anadolu news agency reported.

"We attach great importance to the construction of the first nuclear power plant in Turkey," he said.

"However, primarily we will estimate [already submitted] proposals of four companies from Canada, Japan, South Korea and China and then we will make a statement. I am confident that negotiations will be completed by the end of this year," Yildiz said.

Other Russian-Turkish projects

The Russian and Turkish energy ministers also touched upon the prospects of the project on Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline, a planned crude oil link in Turkey from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan. Novak said 24 rounds of talks have been held on the issue so far but there is still disagreement between the parties on the tariff for oil transportation.

"We are awaiting a response from Turkey now, which we have not received yet. Once it is received, I think that the negotiations will resume immediately," Novak said.

The 550-kilometer Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline will have estimated transportation capacity of 60-70 million tons a year. With this pipeline operational, Turkey is planning to ease traffic in the Bosporus and Dardanelles, overloaded by transit of oil tankers, which Ankara says is a potential threat to the environment, Azerbaijani news agency Trend reported.

Under the agreement signed in October 2009 in Milan, Russian companies Rosneft, Transneft and Sovcomflot, jointly with Turkish group Calik Holding and Italy's Eni, are to be involved in the construction and operation of the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline, as well as in transportation, processing and joint sale of petroleum products. Another Russian energy giant, Lukoil, has also stated its interest in the project. Initially, the project cost has been estimated at $3 billion.

Vice President of the Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, Mikhail Barkov, told reporters in September 2011 that the company considers the Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline project economically unprofitable, and the negotiations were then frozen.

Turkey not expected to join South Stream

Turkey's participation in the South Stream project, which envisions construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to Europe under the Black Sea, is not planned, Minister Novak was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying during a meeting with Turkish media representatives.

Novak also said construction of the South Stream gas pipeline is scheduled to start on December 7.

Shareholders of South Stream Transport AG -- the operator of the South Stream offshore area, which will run through the bottom of the Black Sea to Bulgaria -- are Gazprom (50%), Italy's Eni (20%), Germany's Wintershall and France's EDF (15% each).

Commercial supplies through the pipeline to Europe are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2016, while bringing the project to its full capacity of 63 billion cubic meters a year is planned for 2018. The total cost of the South Stream project, including land plots, is estimated at 16 billion euros.