Atomstroyexport, the subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom nuclear engineer overseeing the construction of Egypt’s Dabaa nuclear power plant, announced on Sunday that three Egyptian contractors had won the tender for the first phase of the work.
The three, Petrojet, Hassan Allam and the Arab Contractors, were picked from a shortlist of 10 to carry out site preparation work, Egypt Independent reports.Â
This part of the project is due to start in the summer and be completed by the end of 2022.
Grigory Sosnin, the Atomstroyexport vice president in charge of Dabaa, said the presence of Egyptian contractors was one of his company’s "utmost priorities". The company has set a target of 20% Egyptian participation in the construction of the reactors.
Earlier this month, Atomstroyexport organised training for Egyptian engineers at the Kursk II plant, which is being built in Russia. Oleg Yakovlev, deputy director for construction at Atomstroyexport’s Egyptian arm, said: "The more time we spend together, and the more we discuss various construction stages, the better we understand each other and all the technical aspects of construction."
Atomstroyexport will issue another tender this year for the remainder of the construction work.
The deal to build Dabaa was agreed between presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in December 2018. Russia has agreed to loan Egypt $25bn to finance the plant, with Egypt repaying the money an interest rate of 3% annually, beginning in 2029.
Image: Putin and Sisi meeting at 2017 BRICS summit in the Chinese city of Xiamen (Kremlin)
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