The Turkish parliament on Thursday ratified a cooperation agreement with Russia on the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant, the parliament's press service said.
The plant is expected to be built by Atomstroyexport near the Mediterranean port of Mersin in the Akkuyu area and put into operation in 2016-2019. Russia will build four nuclear power units for the plant, each with a capacity of 1.2 GW.
Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko earlier said Russia would hold the controlling stake in the $18-20 billion project. He said the project was not going to be limited to construction but would also include the creation of a nuclear engineering company, which would be owned by Russia in the initial phase.
The deal on the construction of the plant was signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's official visit to Ankara in mid-May.
Russia and Turkey have already undertaken several joint projects in the energy sphere, including the Blue Stream gas pipeline, the South Stream gas pipeline and the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
ANKARA, July 15 (RIA Novosti)
