Cairo - President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Monday that the Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) agreement between Cairo and Moscow was successfully completed and contracts are ready to be signed. During his participation in the ninth annual BRICS summit held in China, Sisi invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for a final signing ceremony regarding the agreement [Dabaa NPP], and to lay the foundation stone. In statements following their meeting in China on the sideline of the summit, Putin affirmed that both Egypt and Russia are keen on developing their economic relations. Furthermore, Putin praised Egypt's role in the Middle East region especially regarding settling disputes and helping reach political solutions and agreements. On August 30, Amgad el-Wakeel, chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), said that Dabaa nuclear power plant signing ceremony contracts will be held before the end of 2017. The project is slated to be set up in Matrouh governorate, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, in participation with Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom. In a statement, Wakeel added that the move to sign the contracts came after prolonged negotiations. President Sisi met with the CEO of Rosatom Alexey Likhachev on August 24, to discuss the contracts of the Dabaa nuclear power project as they were announced to be finalized. The president expressed his hope that the construction of the project start soon. Moscow concluded three contracts with Egypt that shall promote the Dabaa nuclear project in Matrouh governorate, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a joint press conference in Moscow, August 25, with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry. Egypt and Russia reached an intergovernmental agreement on November 19, 2015 that granted the construction of the Dabaa nuclear power plant using Russian technologies and backed by a $25 billion loan from Russia. The nuclear power plant, to be developed by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom, will consist of four units generating 1200 MW. Egypt hopes that the launch of the first nuclear power plant will take place in 2024.
