The Moscow city government on Wednesday denied that Zorlu Enerji Elektrik Uretim completed a gas-fired power plant as the Turkish energy producer claimed.
Zorlu Enerji said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange on Wednesday that the Tereshkovo gas-fired plant in the Moscow suburbs was completed before a Sept. 30, 2010, deadline set by Mayor Yury Luzhkov, and that the company was awaiting a license and gas connection.
First Deputy Mayor Yury Roslyak said Moscow had not been informed by the construction company about the completion of Tereshkovo or a second plant, Kozhukhovo. "And there hasn't been a single document about the investor's readiness to begin putting the plant into operation," he said in an e-mailed response to questions.
On Monday, City Hall said Zorlu had failed to deliver the two plants, worth $1.2 billion, on time and demanded their completion "as soon as possible."
In its statement Wednesday, Zorlu did not comment on the status of the Kozhukhovo plant.
A Moscow city official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not cleared to speak to the media, said the Kozhukhovo plant was only 75 percent complete. At Tereshkovo, at least three months of work remains "with steady financing" to make the plant ready for operation, the official said.
The question of supplying gas to the plant "isn't even under discussion" at the moment, the official said.
The two gas-fired plants would be the first privately owned power stations in the capital.
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