Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will be in Washington, DC, on Saturday for talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and to prepare for a visit to the White House by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Also on Saturday: A “social dialogue” on the Daba’a nuclear power plant will bring state officials and executives from Russia’s Rosatom together with local groups and elected officials in Marsa Matrouh. Why should you care? We think Moscow is making it clear that the resumption of direct flights to Egypt hinges on the signing of final contracts for the power plant. See Speed Round for more.

Do Merkel’s visit to Egypt, Sobhi’s trip to Hungary suggest a pact on illegal migration with the European Union is in the works? German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected in Egypt 2-3 March for talks on terrorism and illegal migration, as we’ve previously noted, and now Hungary is calling for Egypt’s support on migration. Defense Minister Sedki Sobhi met with his Hungarian counterpart István Simicskó in Budapest, Hungary Today reported, with Simicskó arguing that instability in Egypt could trigger the departure as many as 10 mn migrants for Europe. Populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been one of the most vocal supporters of migration restrictions in the EU.

Finance Minister Amr El Garhy looks like he’s booked all through next week: El Garhy will be heading over to the House to discuss budget and tax revenue projections. MPs have been eager to receive the USD 12 bn IMF loan agreement for review, but some unnamed representatives tell Al Borsa that the government isn’t planning on sending that over until the second tranche of the loan is disbursed in March, after the IMF delegation concludes its trip to Cairo. Members of the House’s Economic and Budgeting Committees said they plan to meet El Garhy next week to discuss the reasons for the delay. That’s not all: El Garhy and his team are reportedly working on an early outline of the FY2017-18 budget and MPs say there were promised a draft by mid-March. The ministry has reportedly set a temporary exchange rate of EGP 13-15 per greenback for next year’s budget, but plans to update its estimates in March.

The finance minister is also scheduled to speak on 26 February at AmCham Egypt’s gathering on the financial reform agenda.

If you care more about films than you do a good night’s sleep before work: the Oscars will take place from about 3:30am through 7:00am CLT on Monday, 27 February. More on the Oscars website or at official broadcaster ABC’s microsite.