Russian nuclear agreement with Egypt casts doubt over tender plan

The governments of Egypt and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 10 February for the development of the first of several nuclear power projects at El Daba in northern Egypt. The MoU was accompanied by a project development agreement by Russian state nuclear concern Rosatom Overseas and Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA), casting doubt on the international procurement process for Egypt’s planned nuclear power programme promised by senior NPPA official Ahmed Zohdi El-Meligy at a technical meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) only days earlier.