Russian President Vladimir Putin will join his Egyptian counterpart for a ceremony placing the foundation stone of the fourth generating unit of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on January 23 via video link, the Kremlin press service reports.

El Dabaa NPP is being constructed by Russian state-owned nuclear power plant maker Rosatom. By not attending the ceremony in person, Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, will spare Egypt from having to decide whether to arrest the Russian leader.

Rosatom broke ground on the construction of Egypt’s first NPP in El Dabaa, on the Mediterranean north coast roughly 300 km northwest of Cairo, in July 2022. The Russian company is building four cutting-edge power units of the VVER-1200 design at El-Dabaa. Each of the four units has a generating capacity equivalent to 1200 MW using generation III+ VVER-1200 reactors.

The construction phase of the project is to be completed by 2028-2029 at a total estimated cost of $30bn. Russia has extended a $25bn vendor credit to Egypt to finance 85% of the construction costs of the project.

The loan was extended on concessional terms carrying a 3% annual interest rate with repayments scheduled to start from October 2029. The remaining project costs will be covered by the Egyptian side, including through private investors.

According to the terms of the contract, the Rosatom-led consortium will build the El-Dabaa NPP, deliver Russian nuclear fuel for its entire life cycle (about 60 years), and assist the Egyptian side in training personnel training and supporting them in operating and servicing the NPP for its first 10 years.

Within the framework of another agreement, the Russians will build a special storage facility and deliver casks for storing spent nuclear fuel.