Cost of Akkuyu nuclear power plant might increase to $25 billion

Russian Ambassador to Ankara Vladimir Ivanovsky said that the cost of nuclear power plant to be constructed in Mersin's Akkuyu district is likely to increase from $20 billion to $25 billion. Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Ivanovsky said, "Our primary aim is to construct a nuclear power plant. The initial costs have been calculated as $20 billion, but this figure might increase to $25 billion." In 2002, all of the units of the nuclear plant will be completely launched and a total of 3,000 persons will be employed. The training process for Turkish engineers who will work for the power plant is underway in Russia. Stating that economic relations between Turkey and Russia are on a quite satisfactory level, Ivanovsky said that they were very likely to reach the goal of a total trade volume of $100 billion in 2018. Ivanovsky also underlined that there was no risk related to the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey due to the escalating tension on the border between Turkey and Russia.