The Russian government will allocate 53 billion rubles ($1.76 billion) for the construction of new nuclear power plants, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Speaking in East Siberia at a meeting on energy investment, Putin also said that Russian energy companies had spent 66 billion rubles of 450 billion ruble investment funds on projects not connected to country's energy system.

He also said that over 10 billion rubles would be allocated for the repair of Siberia's Sayano-Shushenskaya hydropower plant.

An accident at the plant last August killed 75 people and destroyed a turbine hall. The accident also destroyed three hydropower units and damaged the other seven.