Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, agreed on Tuesday on the importance of working closely to consolidate military and security efforts between the two countries, especially with regard to fighting terrorism and extremist ideology. The meeting, attended by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shokry, and the Head of General Intelligence, Abbas Kamel, as well as the Russian Ambassador to Cairo, also reviewed the latest developments of a number of regional issues, particularly Syria and Libya, where the two sides vowed to preserve the unity of these countries, and stressed the importance of political solutions to the various regional crises. The two sides also agreed to strengthen coordination on various regional issues of common concern. During the meeting, Al-Sisi stressed the appeasement of the Egyptian government and people for the close ties with Russia, and their keenness to continue strengthening them on various levels in the coming period, as part of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Moreover, the Egyptian president praised the Russian contributions to Egypt's comprehensive development efforts with various projects, such as the Dabaa nuclear power plant, which carries a historical symbolism, as a milestone in the friendly relations between the two countries, similar to the Aswan High Dam. In 2018, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin greenlit the implementation of the nuclear power plant, which will have a capacity of 4,800MW. Egypt has signed an agreement with Russia to set up the station at a cost of EGP 30bn. Egypt will receive a $25bn loan from Russia, representing 85% of the total cost of the project, at an interest rate of 3% per annum. Al-Sisi added that the planned Russian industrial zone in East Port Said will help to boost Russian direct investments in the field of manufacturing. The two countries have been working together on establishing the Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) in the East Port Said area, which is expected to produce $3.6bn worth products by 2026.
