President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with Sergey Kirienko, director of the Russian government-run nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, on Monday, during which they discussed an offer by the corporation to construct Egypt’s long-awaited electricity-generating nuclear plant.
Presidency spokesperson Alaa Youssef said the meeting was attended by Egypt’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Minister Mohamed Shaker, as well as Russia’s ambassador to Cairo, Serge V. Kirpichenko.
Youssef said the meeting discussed the “technical and financial aspects” of the corporation’s offer to construct Egypt’s nuclear energy plant in Dabaa, western Egypt.
A source close to the negotiations with the Russian side said Kirienko, who arrived in Cairo on Monday, is scheduled to hold a series of meetings about the project with senior Egyptian officials.
The source explained that Egyptian companies’ could contribute up to 20 percent of the project's needed capital.
“The nuclear project will not be limited to electricity production, there will also be talks about other ways in which we can benefit from the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” the source said.
The source quoted officials at the electricity ministry as saying that a new spokesperson for the Egyptian undertaking is yet to be assigned after Hany Kheder resigned from his position as project spokesperson.
Egypt froze its plans for nuclear energy generation in 1986 following the Chernobyl disaster, but resumed its plans in 2006.
In February, Egypt and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding by which Russia would construct two reactors as part of the nuclear site, valued at US$5 billion.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
