The government may sign an agreement to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey during an official visit by President Dmitry Medvedev to Ankara, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said, Interfax reported.
The project would be the first in which Russia builds a power station abroad and owns and guarantees the electricity supply afterwards, Shmatko said, adding that most commercial terms including electricity price have been agreed on.
Gazprom wants to enter the Turkish retail gas market and is considering several projects, including buying a distribution network in Istanbul, Shmatko said. Gazprom’s participation will depend on retail gas market liberalization in Turkey. Gazprom may also build an underground gas storage facility in Turkey, he said.
Russia and Turkey will discuss the construction of an oil refinery in Ceyhan as soon as a feasibility study for the planned Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline is complete, Shmatko said. The pipeline would offer an alternative transportation route for Russian and Kazakh oil to the Mediterranean, bypassing Turkey’s Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, it said.
Turkey’s participation in the Nabucco pipeline project won’t affect Russian-Turkish energy cooperation, he said.
Medvedev will arrive for a two-day visit on May 11 on an invitation from Turkish President Abdullah Gul, the Turkish presidential press office said on May 6. Officials from the two countries will sign several agreements and exchange views on bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues, it said.
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