CAIRO, 19 March – RIA Novosti. Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, said that the construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant, the Russian Rosatom project in Egypt, is progressing ahead of schedule despite the geopolitical situation in the world. He told reporters.

“We are still ahead of schedule,” he said, answering a question about the timing of the construction of the project, taking into account the new geopolitical situation.

Construction of the nuclear power plant began in July last year. This is the first nuclear power plant in Egypt and Rosatom’s first major project in Africa. The Al-Dabaa nuclear power plant will be located in the Matruh region on the Mediterranean coast, 350 kilometers from Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The station will contain four power units with Russian VVER-1200 reactor power plants belonging to 3+ generations and meeting the highest international efficiency and safety requirements. The total installed electricity capacity of the nuclear power plant will be approximately 4.8 GW.

In 2015, Moscow and Cairo signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the construction of a Russian project and the operation of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, Al Dabaa, and an intergovernmental agreement on the terms of a $25 billion Russian loan. And in December 2017, in the capital of Egypt, in the presence of the Presidents of Russia and Egypt Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, laws on the entry into force of commercial contracts for the construction of nuclear power plants were signed.

In accordance with the contracts, Rosatom will not only build a nuclear power plant, but also ensure the supply of Russian nuclear fuel throughout the entire life cycle of a nuclear power plant. Rosatom will also provide staff training and support to Egyptian partners for the operation and maintenance of the Al-Dabaa NPP during the first 10 years of the station’s operation.