Bloomberg said that according to the proposal, Turkey will bear part of the cost of building the $20 billion Akkuyu nuclear power plant from Russian state-owned energy corporation Rosatom.
In return, Rosatom will pay the equivalent in rubles to gas export group Gazprom. Gazprom will then deduct the fee from Turkey's monthly gas import invoices.
The move would help Russia maintain capital flows into the Akkuyu project without using international banking transactions - which are under scrutiny due to concerns about violating Western sanctions.
Although Rosatom, Gazprom and the Akkuyu project have not been directly sanctioned, payments between Russia and Turkey are struggling as banks worry about the risk of falling into US embargoes.
This gas exchange agreement is one of many creative ways Russia has used to overcome Western isolation efforts related to the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time, it also shows the direct impact of the sanctions on one of Turkey's key energy projects - the NATO country that is trying to maintain a neutral position between Russia and Ukraine.
Turkey typically pays between €300 million and €800 million a month for gas imports from Russia, according to one source. Rosatom and the Turkish Energy Ministry declined to comment on the issue, while Gazprom has not responded.
Earlier in February, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had frozen $2 billion in payments from Russia to Akkuyu in 2024 on suspicion that the money was being used to circumvent sanctions against the Russian Central Bank. Rosatom responded strongly, claiming that the money was held "unfairly" and expressing hope that the issue would be resolved soon.
The Akkuyu project, Turkey's first nuclear power plant, has been delayed several times. The country's authorities said the operation of the first plant could be delayed to 2026, instead of the original plan in 2025.
Previously, Rosatom also had to seek alternative components from China after its order with Siemens Energy (Germany) was canceled due to US export control.
Russia is currently Turkey's largest gas supplier, accounting for 42% of the country's total imports in 2023. Turkey was granted sanctions exemptions by the US to continue importing gas from Russia after its Gazprom branch was listed as a member of the embargo.
After completion, the Akkuyu plant is expected to meet 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. The government is planning to build two more large-scale nuclear power plants and small modular reactors, aiming to reach a nuclear capacity of 20,000 MW by 2050. Turkey is currently negotiating with Russia, China and South Korea for these projects.
