Negotiations on the share sale are currently underway. Their results will be announced in late June at the earliest, according to Rosatom. “As for the Turkish plant, the only thing I can confirm for now is that talks with local investors continue, but no details will be disclosed until the second half of June,” said Roman Dyukarev, Communications Director at Rusatom Energy International. Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachov said that the list of those willing to buy a 49% share in Akkuyu was prepared in early May and included three companies interested in the asset. The Akkuyu nuclear power station is constructed under the BOO (Build–Own–Operate) model, with almost 100% of its equity owned by Rosatom. Third-party investors may acquire up to 49% in the project, but Russia will hold not less than 51% in any case. The Akkuyu project costs are estimated to be 22 billion US dollars.

Construction of the Turkish nuclear power plant can begin in June, Turkey’s Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci said. On 3 March, the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority applied for a nuclear plant construction permit. This procedure allows Turkey to issue a restricted permit to start the nuclear plant construction as early as 2017, said a spokesperson for Rusatom International Network.

Earlier, Akkuyu Nükleer’s Chief Legal Officer Ilya Smirnov said Rosatom planned to pour the first concrete at the Akkuyu site in 2018. “We expect to receive a construction permit and pour the first concrete in 2018,” Mr. Smirnov noted. The first reactor is scheduled to be brought online in 2023, with the construction to be finished in 2026.