ISTANBUL, December 4. /TASS/. Construction work on the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Turkey is 95% complete, with power generation scheduled to begin in 2026, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at a meeting with reporters in Istanbul.

"Regarding the launch of the first reactor, we are at a very important stage. 95% of the work on it is complete, and we hope that the first electricity will start being generated at Akkuyu next year. That is our goal. Of course, more reactors will follow, but right now we are focused on completing the construction of Turkey's first nuclear reactor," the minister said.

Bayraktar called the project the largest in Turkey and the world. "The Akkuyu NPP project is the largest foreign investment project in Turkey. Construction of four reactors is currently underway at the world’s largest nuclear power plant construction site. Over the past couple of years we've encountered certain challenges in implementing the project. I'm referring to the pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, some direct and indirect obstacles, and sanctions. Some manufacturers, for political reasons, have not supplied components to Turkey, which has certainly impacted the project's implementation," he explained.

Earlier reports said that equipment for Akkuyu ordered from Siemens before sanctions against Russia were imposed had not arrived. Bayraktar called the German company an unreliable supplier due to breach of contractual obligations.

The minister recalled the project's discussion by the two countries' presidents, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at their meeting in September during the SCO summit in China. "They had a very good discussion about this project, and they both fully support it. From an investor's perspective, Russia's participation and support at the government level are crucial," he noted.