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Russia, Turkey to continue discuss tax privileges on Akkuyu NPP project

The Russian side stressed it had fulfilled all its obligations as concerns applications for licenses and permits to begin the construction of the nuclear plant

ANTALYA, Turkey, April 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russian and Turkey consider the Akkuyu nuclear plant project as a strategic one in bilateral cooperation, according to a protocol of the 12th session of the Russian-Turkish intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation that closed its work on Saturday.

A key problem about the project is tax privileges the Russian side wants from the Turkish partners. A joint working group set up by Russia’s state-run nuclear corporation Rosatom and Turkey’s ministry of energy will continue to deal with this matter, the protocol says.

The Russian side stressed it had fulfilled all its obligations as concerns applications for licenses and permits to begin the construction of the nuclear plant.

Apart from that, Rosatom and its Turkish partners agreed to develop cooperation to create a system of handling radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.

The Akkuyu Nuclear plant project in Turkey’s Mersin province would the first nuclear plant in Turkey. It is a big project for Russia and a strategic one for Turkey, since its dependence on imported hydrocarbons reaches 90 percent. It is planned to begin the construction of the four-unit plant with an overall capacity of 4.8 gigawatt in 2013.

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