On Sept. 24, six Turkish and foreign companies submitted closed
envelopes to the Turkish Electricity Trading & Contracting Inc., which
managed the tender. They were identified as Atostroyexport, AECL Atomic
Energy Of Canada, the French-Belgian Suez Tractebel, the Dutch Unit
Investment, as well as Turkey's Hattat Holding-Hema Ortak Girisim Grubu and
Ak Enerji.
Only Atostroyexport submitted an offer for the construction and
operation of Turkey's first nuclear power plant at Akkuyu region of the
southern province of Mersin. Atostroyexport has been teamed with Russia's
Inter Rao and Turkey's Park Teknik.
Atostroyexport's offer would be assessed by Turkey's Atomic Energy
Agency. Officials said the agency would then decide whether to submit the
offer to the Council of Ministers.
"We talked nearly with all of companies," Atomic Energy Agency president
Okay Cakiroglu said. "They could not tell us just how much time was
necessary."
Officials said the sole bid could torpedo the tender. This has been
Ankara's fourth tender for its nuclear energy project.
In wake of the tender results, the president of the Atomic Energy Agency
announced his resignation. Cakiroglu said his resignation was not connected
to the tender.
"If I handed my demand in before the tender offers were made public
Sept. 24, there could have been some doubts," Cakiroglu said. "But at this
time there is nothing to be suspicious about."
Analysts said Atostroyexport's offer would encounter opposition within
the Energy Ministry, already accused of mishandling the tender. They said
the Russian company built flawed industrial plants in Turkey's Iskenderun
and Orhaneli.
"I believe the tender will fail," Necdet Pamir, a senior analyst at the
Eurasian Strategic Research Center, said. "The government cannot take the
risk of handing the tender to Russians, not after voicing doubts about that
country's technology."
