House signs off on Dabaa contracts, moves them along to El Sisi to set a signing date: The House of Representatives’ general assembly signed off on the contracts for the USD 30 bn Dabaa nuclear power plant yesterday, Al Borsa reports. The four contracts with Russia’s Rosatom have been sent to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to review and set a date for the signing, which Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker had announced last month would happen before the end of the year after a series of mismatched reports surfaced. Under the agreement, the Russian government will offer Egypt a USD 25 bn loan, to finance development work at the 4800 MW plant, with an annual interest of 3%. The remainder of the amount will be sourced locally, according to House Energy Committee deputy Essam Abdallah. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Egypt to attend the signing ceremony.

No link to Egypt flights: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi pointed out in Sharm El Sheikh last week that there is no relationship between Dabaa and Cairo’s bid to get Moscow to restore flights to Egypt that were suspended after the Metrojet terror attack.

Abdallah said we can expect the House to start debate in about two weeks’ time on legislation that will establish an authority to oversee nuclear power projects. Disagreements in the House are currently over tax exemptions and customs breaks awarded to the authority under the proposed law, which the Ismail Cabinet approved in September.