Unpaid Wages Spark Crisis Among Russian Laborers at Turkeys Nuclear Power Project

According to the independent news outlet Sota, Russian workers involved in the construction of Turkey’s first nuclear power plant have not received their salaries for the past two months, as reported by the families of the workers.

Since the delays in payment began in May, the workforce at the Akkuyu nuclear facility—one of Russia’s most significant international energy projects—has decreased from 12,000 to just 3,000 employees, Sota noted.

Situated in Mersin Province in southern Turkey, the Akkuyu plant is a $20 billion initiative overseen by Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy agency. The facility is being developed under a «build-own-operate» contract, granting Russia long-term authority over the plant.

Russian workers are recruited through local agencies, but they finalize their contracts while in Turkey. In March, Turkish laborers conducted a strike due to stagnant wages failing to keep pace with inflation, while Russian workers reportedly remained quiet, fearing job termination and the loss of their return flights to Russia, which are covered by their employment agreements.

Earlier, Moscow requested Ankara’s assistance in sharing some of the construction expenses, citing financial strains exacerbated by Western sanctions. As reported by Bloomberg, the Russian government suggested that Gazprom, the state energy corporation, deduct funds for Akkuyu from Turkey’s monthly payments for Russian natural gas.

On July 8, Anton Dedusenko, the chairman of Rosatom’s subsidiary Akkuyu Nuclear, announced that commissioning work had commenced on the plant’s first reactor unit. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak previously indicated that the first unit was expected to be operational by the end of 2025.

Originally set for launch in 2024, the timeline was extended after Siemens, a German technology firm, withdrew from the project in response to international sanctions. Instead, Rosatom has turned to a Chinese supplier, with Dedusenko expressing optimism that the replacement equipment will arrive next year.

Once finished, Akkuyu will feature four nuclear reactors, each producing 1,200 megawatts of power, enough to satisfy approximately 10% of Turkey’s electricity needs.

In 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that Russia aimed to leverage the construction project as a financial resource, effectively creating an «offshore dollar reserve» to evade sanctions and access global markets. This scheme allegedly involved high-ranking Russian officials, including Elvira Nabiullina, the Governor of the Central Bank.

Reports suggest that around $9 billion from Russia’s Central Bank was funneled through Gazprombank as a loan to support the construction, and the funds were subsequently transferred via U.S. banks to Russian corporate accounts at Ziraat Bank, Turkey’s largest state-owned bank.