Finance Minister Amr El Garhy and Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker travelled to Russia on Thursday on an unannounced visit to finalize contracts for the Daba’a nuclear power plant agreement, a source told Al Shorouk. No final date for signing the agreements has been set yet, but one or two contracts out the four preliminary pacts could be signed by the end of July. The Egyptian delegation is expected to present President Abdel Fattah El Sisi with a detailed report on their trip, the source adds, noting that the talks are being conducted behind closed doors.

… A little less secret is Washington Institute fellow Eric Trager’s disdain for the nuclear agreement, which he says is “expensive” and “will likely increase the country’s economic burden and susceptibility to Russian influence.” Trager says “while the new plant will help Cairo satisfy the country’s long-term energy needs to some extent, its high cost suggests additional motivations, such as bolstering the government’s domestic political standing and expanding its foreign relationships beyond Washington.” He compares the “cost-ineffective” plan to the agreement with Siemens to build power plants generating 16.4 GW of energy for USD 9 bn, as opposed to the EGP 25 bn Egypt will reportedly pay Russia for c. 4.8 GW of energy.