South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said to a corruption inquiry that former President Jacob Zuma pressured him to agree to a massive nuclear power deal with Russian Federation to be delivered to President Vladimir Putin in 2015.

Nene refused to approve the construction of eight nuclear reactors, which would have the capacity to generate 9,600 megawatts of energy. The costs of the project, promoted by Zuma, would have been “astronomical,” he said in his statement.