RIA Novosti reports that Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has signed the 2009 nuclear co-operation agreement with Turkey that is expected boost energy projects between the two countries.

The deal approved by Russia’s parliament last month was one of several agreements initiated by Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin on a visit to Ankara in August 2009.

Last year, Russia and Turkey signed a USD 20 billion agreement under which Russia would help build and operate Turkey’s first nuclear power plant. Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogankey, echoing renewed concerns about the safety of nuclear power generation following the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was badly damaged by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, commented that the plant would be an example for the rest of the world in terms of safety and transparency in nuclear emergencies.