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Sisi and Putin attend ceremony of inking agreement to officially launch Egypt's first-ever nuclear power plant
[AlAhram] Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
met in Cairo on Monday to attend the signing of an agreement officially launching work on Egypt's first-ever nuclear power plant at Dabaa on the north coast.

The Egyptian president said that both leaders further discussed ways to boost economic ties, including efforts to attract Russian investments to the Egyptian Suez Canal Economic Zone and to establish a Russian free-trade zone.

Putin said that "upon the completion of the Dabaa project, Egypt will not only benefit from having a nuclear plant but also from gaining the latest and safest technology of nuclear energy."

The nuclear plant, which will cost up to $21 billion, is expected to be completed by 2028-2029, Rosatom announced on Monday, according to Rooters.

Russia will provide a loan that will cover 85 percent of the construction costs, Likhachyov said.

According to the initial agreement signed by the two countries in 2015, Russia will build four reactors, each producing 1,200 megawatts of electricity, generating a total output of 4,800 megawatts.

The company will service the plant’s four reactors for 60 years, Likhachyov added.

Putin said that economic cooperation with Egypt "is taking on new dynamics in trade and economic exchange."

"During the past nine months, economic exchange between both countries have reached more than $4 billion," the Russian president stated.

Putin also said he agreed with the Egyptian president on the necessity of continuing negotiations on the establishing of the free-trade zone between Egypt and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.

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.

Russians make up the largest single tourist group in Egypt, contributing to about a fifth of foreign vacationers in the country as of 2015, according to official data.

Cooperation on regional matters
President Putin said he agreed with El-Sisi on the framework of cooperation between both countries in the near future, describing Egypt as the old and trustful partner of Russia in the Middle East and North Africa.
Posted by: trailing wife 2017-12-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=503544