Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will speak at a ceremony this week at Egypt's under-construction Ed-Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) and give the order to start pouring concrete, Russian media reported, citing Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov.
"We are talking about the joint participation of [the presidents of the two countries] in the ceremony. They will give a speech and give the command to pour the first concrete," Peskov was quoted by the media as saying.
Earlier, it was reported that Putin planned to take part in the ceremony of pouring the first concrete at the fourth power unit of the Ed-Dabaa NPP next week via video link. Peskov said on January 19 that the Russian leader was preparing to take part in the ceremony, but did not specify the date.
The pouring of the first concrete at the fourth unit of the Ed-Dabaa NPP marks the end of the preparatory stage and the transition to the main stage of the capital construction of all units of the plant.
Last October, Putin said that the construction of the fourth unit of the El-Dabaa NPP by Russian specialists was ahead of schedule. The head of state noted that this is a flagship project on the African continent, while Russia is not limiting itself to the construction of the station, but together with Egyptian specialists is creating an entire industry from scratch.
Ed-Dabaa is the first NPP in Egypt to be built by Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom in Egypt's Matruh province on the Mediterranean coast, about 300 km northwest of the country's capital, Cairo. It is Rosatom's first major project in Africa.
By 2028, the state corporation will construct four units of the plant with VVER-1200 reactors and will supply nuclear fuel for the entire life cycle of the NPP (60 years), as well as provide personnel training services, carry out maintenance and repair within 10 years after the start of each unit.
The contract also includes the construction of the first module of the spent fuel dry container storage facility by 2028. Egypt expects that the nuclear power plant to reach full capacity by 2030.
According to Putin, Russia's nuclear industry, led by Rosatom, is unrivaled. The president highlighted in October 2023 that Rosatom is currently involved in the construction of 22 power units overseas, which accounts for 80% share of the world market share.