Russia attempted to use the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) project in Türkiye in 2022 to create an "offshore dollar reserve" to help Moscow circumvent Western sanctions.

Source : The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with reference to informed sources

Details : The sources said that the scheme involved high-ranking Russian officials, including Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, and Turkish officials from President Recep Erdoğan's circle, including one of his closest advisers, Turkish National Intelligence Head Ibrahim Kalın.

According to the plan, Gazprombank, one of Russia’s largest banks that was not under US sanctions at the time, was to provide a loan of about US$9 billion for the construction of the Akkuyu NPP, which is being built by Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned atomic energy corporation.

The money was supposed to be transferred through two American banks – JPMorgan and Citigroup – to the nuclear power plant’s account at Ziraat, Türkiye’s largest state-owned bank, and then redirected to the accounts of Russian companies in the same credit institution.

In this case, as the WSJ notes, Moscow could have avoided the need to conduct further transactions through the United States. The loan was covertly financed by the Bank of Russia. Türkiye’s interest in the scheme was explained by the fact that the country could attract the dollars it needed to fight soaring inflation.

The WSJ stressed that Russia had transferred more than US$5 billion to Türkiye in the summer of 2022. However, this attracted the attention of the US Department of Justice, which blocked another US$2 billion tranche through JPMorgan. These funds were frozen, and in 2024, prosecutors began looking to confiscate the money through a civil lawsuit, but President Joe Biden's administration stopped the process due to concerns that it would worsen relations with Türkiye.

Background : For the first time in many years, Russia is close to losing its leading position in the global grain market. In 2025, the country's grain exports will be reduced by a third.

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