A Russian delegation has praised Egypt's administration of the Dabaa nuclear power plant file during a visit to Marsa Matrouh governorate Wednesday.

The high level visit of a delegation of Russian city mayors aims at exchanging expertise between the Russian and Egyptian sides and also discussed public acceptance of constructing the Dabaa plant.

Amgad Al-Wakil, head of the Egyptian Nuclear Power Plants Authority, affirmed keenness on exchanging expertise between Cairo and Moscow in this field, affirming Russia is a strategic partner at all levels. 

The Russian delegation hailed Egyptians steps taken so far in the construction of the Dabaa plant and also praised Egypt's handling of public acceptance regarding the project. 

"Egypt has surpassed the level of public acceptance of the project to the level of encouragement by the general Egyptian public, which positively affects the progress of the project in general," Al-Wakil said. 

Moscow and Cairo signed an agreement in 2015 for Russia to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, with Russia extending a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction.

In December 2017, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attended in Cairo the signing of the agreement that officially marked the launch of the power plant project.

The 4,800 megawatt (MW) capacity, the first out of four plants at Dabaa in the north of the country, aims to be up and running by 2026, while the other three are set to complete by 2028.