Russian President hailed the loading of fuel into the first reactor at Turkey’s Russia-built Akkuyu nuclear power plant.

“This is a flagship project and it brings both mutual economic benefits and, of course, helps to strengthen the multifaceted partnership between our two states”, - Vladimir Putin said at the virtual unveiling ceremony alongside his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom started building the first of 4 planned reactors at the Akkuyu plant on Turkey’s southern coast in 2018. When completed, the plant’s 4 reactors will operate with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts.

“Our country has risen to the league of nations with nuclear power, albeit after a 60-year delay”, - Erdogan said.

The unveiling ceremony was also attended by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev and Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez.

Construction of the Akkuyu plant was complicated by sanctions the West imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.