Russian workers employed at the construction site of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey have not received their salaries for the past two months. The issue, which reportedly began in May, has led to a significant workforce reduction—from 12,000 workers down to just 3,000 on site, according to relatives of the workers involved in the project. The facility is being built under the “build–own–operate” model by the Russian state corporation Rosatom, reports Baltimore Chronicle citing Sotaproject.
According to the same sources, workers are hired in Russia by the company Titan-2 and then sign labor contracts on-site with the Turkish firm TSM Enerji.
In March, Turkish workers at the plant staged a strike demanding salary indexation. Russian staff, however, refrained from joining the protest due to threats of termination. In some cases, their return tickets to Russia—initially included in their employment contracts—were cancelled. These measures particularly affected around 200 Meskhetian Turks, who are Russian citizens and sought legal support from a Turkish lawyer.
Earlier, in February, it was reported that Russia had offered to partially cover Turkey’s expenses for the Akkuyu project due to payment difficulties caused by international sanctions. Sources cited by Bloomberg said that Rosatom planned to transfer an equivalent amount in rubles to Gazprom, which would then deduct this sum from Turkey’s monthly payments for Russian gas imports.
Earlier we wrote that international partners may join Turkey’s Akkuyu NPP project.