Russia will sign subcontractor agreements by the end of the year with Egyptian companies for the country's first nuclear power plant, the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
According to a Russian presidency statement, speaking to reporters following the meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sochi, Putin said that Egyptian companies would act as contractors for the project, which will be located in Egypt's Matrouh region on the Mediterranean coast.
In accordance with the contracts, Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom will build four VVER-1200 power reactors, the first of which will be commissioned in 2026.
Preparatory site work is underway, Putin said, adding, 'The construction of a Russian-designed nuclear power plant in Egypt by Rosatom is a major joint project in this industry.'
In March, CEO of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev announced that construction work for the plant would provisionally start in 2020.
The intergovernmental agreement for the El Dabaa plant was inked in November 2015, and two years later, on Dec. 11, 2017, Moscow and Cairo signed a final agreement for its construction.
Egypt's first plant will help ensure competitive electricity prices in Egypt over a period of 60 years, according to Rosatom.
Russia will also train Egypt's nuclear industry specialists, who will work in the nuclear power sector.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr