The Egyptian presidency spokesman Bassam Rady
An Egyptian-Russian document to commence work on the Dabaa nuclear power plant will be inked during a meeting between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Cairo on Monday, the Egyptian president's spokesman was quoted by the official news agency MENA.
The authorisation to start work on the Dabaa plant in western Egypt, the country's first-ever nuclear energy project, comes two years after El-Sisi and Putin signed a tentative agreement in November 2015 to start the project.
Putin is set to arrive in Cairo on his second official visit to Egypt on Monday.
A delegation from the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom had arrived in Cairo on Satuday evening in preparation for the visit.
The Dabaa agreement stipulates Russia will build four-reactors which will produce 4,800 megawatt, 1200 megawatts capacity for each. The first reactor is expected to begin operation in 2024. The first reactor is expected to begin operations in 2024. The project is expected to be completed in 12 years at the cost of $25 billion.
Rady added that the bilateral talks between the two leaders would also focus on the return of Russian flights to Egypt in the near future.
Russia suspended flights to Egypt in November 2015 after a Russian commercial flight crashed over Sinai shortly after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh, killing all 224 people aboard.
Egypt has been implementing tighter security measures in its airports to meet Russian demands on security, with the aim of restoring Russian visitors to boost its tourism industry.
Monday's talks will also cover a range of regional crises, said Rady, with the two leaders seeking to firm up efforts at bilateral cooperation.
Among the proposals under discussion will be a formal bilateral framework between the two countries’ foreign and defense ministers, or a “two-plus-two” dialogue mechanism.
Rady said that there is now a convergence of views between Russia and Egypt on several regional issues, especially the situations in Syria and Libya.
With regard to the Palestine cause, Rady said that Russia welcomes the national Palestinian reconciliation process, which was initiated through Egyptian efforts under the sponsorship of President El-Sisi.
The Egyptian spokesman said Egypt and Russia are in agreement on the rejection of US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, with Egypt and Russia affirming that the move does not help the Palestinian cause.
Putin's first official visit to Egypt took place back in February 2015.
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