Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign an agreement with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi today that will signal the start of the USD 30 bn Dabaa nuclear power plant project, Ittihadiya Spokesperson Bassam Radi told state television yesterday, according to MENA. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had confirmed as much in a televised interview with RT Arabic, stating that “the project involves many disparate aspects, between technical, legal and financial, and we have reached advanced level of agreements upon these," but shying away from disclosing an exact date for when the contracts would be signed.

You can catch the full RT Arabic interview with Shoukry here (watch, runtime 25:27).

Speculation on the actual date remains rife, with an Electricity Ministry source saying everyone is tight-lipped about the whole affair, while other sources told Reuters separately it would definitely take place during the visit. Still others told Al Shorouk that Tuesday was the anointed date. State-owned outlet Ahram Gate mentions that a delegation from Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom had arrived on Saturday and met on Sunday with International Atomic Energy Agency inspector Yousry Abushady, who tells the newspaper that three “pleasant surprise” announcements were on the way.

Could Russian tourists finally be coming back? Restoring direct air travel between Cairo and Moscow will also be on the agenda, both Shoukry and Radi confirmed. While no official date has been set, talks are ongoing between both government to finalize security protocols, Shoukry said. Ittihadiya has also received a detailed brief from the Tourism Ministry ahead of the summit detailing the latest in negotiations and security inspections, Tourism Ministry sources also tell Al Borsa.

Tour operators speaking to the newspaper expressed their hopes that the issue would be resolved at the summit, especially as Egypt has been complying with Russia’s security demands. The most accolade Egypt’s air travel security came from the US’ Transport Security Administration which had a glowing report of EgyptAir’s security procedures for flights to New York, Al Masry Al Youm reports.

RT Arabic’s online portal also ran an interview with Air Force commander Hisham El Halaby, who expects that we should see military agreements and weapons purchases announced during the trip. Sources at the Suez Canal Economic Zone also told Reuters’ Arabic service that Putin would also be signing an agreement for the establishment of a Russian industrial zone in the area, as Egyptian-European Business Council head Mohamed Aboul Enein had said on Saturday.