Russian state nuclear energy conglomerate Rosatom agreed to sell a 49 percent stake in a giant nuclear project in southern Turkey to Turkish investors on June 19.
The stake in the Akkuyu project was sold for an undisclosed sum to three Turkish electricity distributors: Cengiz, Kolin, and Kalyon. The investment agreement will be signed by the end of the year, Rosatom said.
Rosatom began construction in April 2015 of the four-unit plant with an estimated cost of $20 billion. Its launch is scheduled for 2023, according to Rosatom's deputy chief Kirill Komarov.
Rosatom would keep 51 percent of the nuclear plant in the deal, but the company said the Turkish share of the project represents Rosatom's largest foreign investment to date.
Komarov said the parties aim to "close this deal before the end of the year" after signing a term sheet on June 19 and gaining approval from shareholders and the Turkish government, Interfax reported.
Akkuyu is Turkey's first nuclear power station on the Mediterranean, part of the hydrocarbon-poor state's drive to attain greater energy self-sufficiency.