Putin phones Sisi on regional ties, Dabaa NPP

CAIRO – 4 December 2017: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received a telephone call from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during which the presidents discussed Egypt’s first under-construction nuclear power plant (NPP) of Dabaa, said Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador Bassam Radi in a statement on Monday.

Both leaders will attend the inauguration of Dabaa plant, located at the Mediterranean city of Dabaa in Marsa Matrouh, by the end of this year, Egypt’s Minister of Electricity, Mohamed Shaker, has previously told Egypt Today.

On September 5, Sisi invited Putin to attend the final signing ceremony of the Dabaa plant in Egypt, and Putin announced that he accepted the invitation. Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced that the foundation stone of the Dabaa nuclear power plant will be laid soon.

The plant is built on 55 square kilometers in Dabaa, Matrouh governorate; once completed, it will consist of eight reactors. Russia will build the first four reactors while the construction of the other four will be through international aid. Each reactor will produce 1,200 megawatts of energy.

During Monday’s phone call, the two leaders also discussed the latest developments in the Middle East and the joint efforts to restore stability in the region as well as reaching political solutions to the existing crises, especially the Syrian and Libyan issues in the framework of the relevant United Nations (UN) resolutions. President Putin also paid tribute to the Egyptian efforts to achieve Palestinian reconciliation, Radi added.

President Putin offered his condolences to Sisi on the victims of the terrorist attack on the unarmed worshipers at Al-Rawda Mosque which took place Friday, 24 November, 2017, at Al-Arish Governorate in North Sinai, stressing Russia's support for the Egyptian government and people in its efforts in combating terrorism.

President Sisi affirmed the hard will of Egyptian people to fight terrorism and the strong will of the armed forces, the police and the security services to defeat terrorism.


The two sides also discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations between their countries. Both presidents stressed the importance of continuing the work of activating the frameworks of joint cooperation in a number of fields in light of the distinguished relations between the two countries and friendly peoples, especially in the military, commercial and transport fields.