Putin and Sisi oversee deal to commence work on Egypt's first nuclear power plant

The Presidents of Russia and Egypt were present during the signing of Dabaa NPP's latest agreement

Russia and Egypt have signed an agreement to begin work on the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant.

The deal covers aspects of general construction and supply of nuclear fuel to the plant, and it was signed in Cairo by Alexei Likhachev, head of Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom and Mohamed Shaker, Egypt's Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, in the presence of the presidents of Russia and Egypt, Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

Construction of all four units of El Dabaa plant is expected to complete between 2028 and 2029, Likhachev said.

In July this year, Egypt and Russia announced that they had reached an agreement on all points of Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant deal.

Both countries has signed an intergovernmental agreement in November 2015 to build Egypt’s first nuclear plant, worth US$30bn.

In addition to this, Russia had also signed an agreement to grant Egypt a state export loan worth $25bn for the construction of the plant, with the amount expected to cover 85% of construction works.

The remaining costs would be covered by Egypt, which would seek private-sector investments.