BAGHDAD, December 3 (RIA Novosti) - Iraq is in talks with Russian power plant builder Technopromexport on completing the construction of a thermal plant near Baghdad, an Iraqi Energy Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

The spokesman told the Al-Iraqiya TV channel that a contract worth over $130 million could be signed in the near future to continue work on the thermal plant, the largest in the Persian Gulf.

Construction of the Yusufiyah plant started in 1989. After the U.S.-led Desert Storm operation in 1991, construction was suspended for almost 10 years. Russian specialists returned to the facility to the south of Baghdad in 2001, but the onset of the 2003 Iraq War and ensuing instability forced them to leave the country in 2004.

The plant's completion requires the return of Russian specialists. However, Iraq has failed to meet the necessary conditions to guarantee the workers' security.

Sources in Iraq's Energy Ministry have said a Technopromexport group is likely to travel to Iraq to examine the construction site and set out terms to resume construction.

Iraq suffers from a major energy shortfall, with total plant output of 5,500 MW meeting less than half the country's electricity needs.