President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has said that Egypt was looking forward for ongoing cooperation with Russia in building a nuclear power plant in Dabaa, in the country's north. "The project is a new symbol of the historic friendship between the two countries," Sisi said Thursday. The 4,800 megawatt (MW) capacity plant at Dabaa aims to be up and running by 2026. Sisi's comments came during a meeting with CEO of Russia's Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation Alexey Likhachev. The talks were attended by Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker, Chairman of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority Amgad el-Wakeel, and Rosatom representatives. Egyptian presidential spokesperson Bassam Radi said the meeting came as part of ongoing efforts to build the plant. "Sisi said he looked forward to continued cooperation between the two sides to build the plant based on the highest international standards of nuclear safety and security." Likhachev voiced his appreciation to the ongoing cooperation with Egypt in the nuclear field, affirming the company's keenness to harness its best potential and exert its utmost effort to implement the project, Radi continued. Moscow and Cairo signed an agreement in 2015 for Russia to build the plant, with Russia extending a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction. The loan was worth $25 billion and would finance 85 percent of the value of each work contract, services and equipment shipping. Egypt would fund the remaining 15 percent.
