The State Council is set to review the contracts for the Dabaa nuclear plant. The contracts have been drafted and both governments; Egyptian and Russian have agreed on all the contractual clauses and presented a detailed report to President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. According to government sources, the State Council will review four contracts; main establishment, fuel supply, operation, technical support, and exhausted fuel stores. Two contracts have already been reviewed before, but the State Council will review all four contracts again before sending them to the president to ratify them. Sources said that the presidency will organize a grand celebration in Cairo, attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a number of scientists, experts, public figures, and participants in negotiations with Moscow, to announce the signing of the contract for the nuclear plant and inaugurate the project. The sources explained that after the signing of the contracts, a number of Russians will review the designs and coordinates of the project site before obtaining permission for construction. They added that there are still negotiations around establishing an executive body to manage the nuclear plant and as well as some controversy around the presence of the Nuclear Power Plants Authority and the Supreme Council for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. Judge Ahmed Abul Azm, deputy head of State Council, said in previous remarks that the law for establishing an executive body for the management of nuclear power plants has been resorted to by the legislator after the emergence of an urgent need to establish a new apparatus to oversee the contract for the construction of the nuclear plant until they are delivered to the Nuclear Power Plants Authority as owner and operator of power plants. Egypt signed an agreement with Russia to establish a nuclear power plant in Dabaa with a capacity of 4,800 MW for $30bn. Russia will provide a government loan of $25bn to finance equipment and services for construction and operation. The loan will be used to finance 85% of the value of each contract to implement works, services, and shipments of the project. The Egyptian side will pay the remaining amount, representing 15%, in the form of installments. The amount will be paid for the benefit of the authorised Russian institutions in a way that suits the contracts, through an advance or any payment that is made later after implementing works and services and delivering supplies. The term of the loan is 13 years over the period from 2016 until 2028, at a 3% annual interest rate.
