ISTANBUL: Russia’s Rosatom has awarded TSM Enerji the contract to undertake the remaining construction work at the $20 billion nuclear power plant it is building in Akkuyu in southern Turkey, the company said on Saturday.

Akkuyu Nukleer, a Rosatom subsidiary that is building four reactors at the site on the Mediterranean, said it had signed the engineering, procurement and construction contract with TSM after terminating its agreement with Turkish firm IC Ictas. TSM is owned by three Russia-based companies, according to the Turkish trade registry.

“All works under current subcontracts will be transferred to TSM ... Similar new contracts will be signed between TSM and subcontractors,” Akkuyu Nukleer said in a statement, without saying why the IC Ictas agreement had been terminated.

It said the contract with TSM would ensure work was completed by previously agreed dates and that workers were paid on time. The Turkish government aims to start operating the first reactor at the total 4,800-megawatt (MW) plant before a general election next year.

President Tayyip Erdogan has previously suggested that Turkey could work with Russia on the construction of two further plants.