RUSSIA: Nuclear Deal with Egypt Signed

By Kester Kenn Klomegah Reprint | | Print |

Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, Mar 25 2008 (IPS) - After years of diplomatic negotiations, Russia and Egypt finally signed an agreement Tuesday that paves the way for cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy sector.

The agreement was signed during a visit by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A tender for construction of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant is expected to be announced this year. The project is estimated to be worth up to 2 billion dollars.

Egypt also plans to build another three nuclear power plants with an aggregate capacity of 1,800 MW in a bid to meet its energy needs and diversify energy sources, thereby allowing hydrocarbon reserves to last longer.

Russia, seeking to develop high technology sectors to reduce its dependence on oil and gas exports, has signalled interest in building a nuclear plant in Egypt.

The agreement was signed between Sergey Kiriyenko, head of Rosatom, the state nuclear energy corporation and Egyptian energy minister Hassan Younes. It also envisions personnel training at nuclear facilities in Egypt, and nuclear fuel supplies to the country.

Russia’s nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly Atomstroyexport is currently building five nuclear power plants in China, India and Iran worth 4.5 billion dollars. The company has also won a tender to build a plant in Belene in Bulgaria. Talks are under way to build nuclear plants in Morocco, Vietnam and South Africa.

A Kremlin source also pointed to a pilot project for creation of a special Russian industrial zone in Egypt. Egypt has reportedly offered Russian companies preferential tax rates to bolster its automotive and aviation sectors.

A spokesman at the Federal Nuclear Agency that oversees government nuclear projects at home and abroad told this IPS correspondent shortly after the official signing ceremony late Tuesday afternoon that “Russia is preparing to help many more African countries gradually with solving their high technology and energy problems, but who are incredibly looking elsewhere.”

“These frequent visits by African leaders such as this one underscore the fact that there is a wide range of economic prospects for cooperation and development between the two continents,” head of the Group of African Ambassadors (GAA) in Moscow Melrose Kai-Banya told IPS.

The negotiations also confirmed Russia’s preparedness to further strengthen bilateral relations through using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, she said.

“Mubarak’s visit signifies further development of traditional relations between Russia and Egypt, and also between both leaders of the two countries. It demonstrates once again Russia’s intention to broaden ties with different continents and regions,” Prof. Vladimir Shubin from the Moscow-based African Studies Institute told IPS.

Egypt is at the heart of the Arab world and a leading African nation, and its international importance cannot be overestimated, he said.

Russia and Egypt also found common positions on such burning issues as the situation in Palestine, the U.S. military intervention in Iraq, and the tension around Iran, Shubin said.

Egypt had long ties with the former Soviet Union. Those resulted in several development projects in late 1950s including the building of the Aswan dam.

Speaking after talks with Mubarak, outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin said the deal “opens up new horizons for bilateral cooperation.” Putin said “Egypt is one of Russia’s strategic partners. Our relation is really comprehensive politically and economically, and we will further develop our economic ties.”

Mubarak, a former pilot, received training in what is now Kyrgyzstan, and studied at the Soviet Military Academy in Moscow in the 1960s.