Dabaa nuclear plant deal to be implemented in 2017

CAIRO – 3 November 2017: The head of the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, declared the El-Dabaa nuclear plant deal will be implemented by the end of this year, according to the Russian information agency Novosti.

All deals and contracts are expected to be studied by the end of the current year, in terms of construction, licensing and licensing terms which depend on the level of interaction with the Egyptian side, Likhachev said.

In November 2015, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi oversaw the signing of the deal between Egypt and Russia to establish the first Egyptian nuclear power plant.

Expected to be completed within 12 years, the nuclear plant will be the largest Russian-Egyptian project since the Aswan dam, the then-head of Rosatom said during the signing ceremony in 2015.

According to the draft agreement, Russia will loan Egypt the $25 billion needed to finance the building and operation of the plant.

Egypt is to pay the loan back at an interest rate of three percent annually, with instalment payments beginning in 2029.