UAE interested in involvement in Rosatom projects in third countries, including Turkey, as investor - Likhachev

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - The United Arab Emirates is interested in involvement in the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom's projects in third countries, including Turkey, as an investor, Rosatom CEO Alexei Likhachev said.

"We're actively inviting our partners [UAE] to our projects in third countries, and they're displaying an interest in projects in Central Asia as investors," he said.

Rosatom has proposed to the UAE that it build a large and a small nuclear power plant, he said.

Rosatom is already collaborating with the UAE in the transportation sector, Likhachev said. For example, the company has a joint project with the Arab port operator DP World (DPW) to ship containers along the Northern Sea Route, he said.

In an earlier interview with the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel, Likhachev said that "discussions are underway on attracting investors to the Akkuyu project [a nuclear power plant in Turkey]."

"We are also discussing attracting investors to our projects to develop the Northern Sea Route," he said.

Rosatom Deputy CEO Ilya Rebrov said in an earlier interview with the industry publication Strana Rosatom that the corporation's Supervisory Board had approved attracting foreign financing. In particular, preparations were underway to issue Atomenergoprom bonds in Chinese yuan, as well as Islamic bonds (sukuk), to finance the Akkuyu NPP construction project in Turkey.

Apart from that, the intergovernmental agreement on implementing the Akkuyu NPP project allows for the possibility of selling a 49% stake in the project, Rosatom said in summer of 2025, amid news on such negotiations.