Cairo: Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi on Tuesday headed for Moscow, marking his third visit to Russia since taking office last year amid closer ties between the two countries.
During his three-day visit, Al Sissi will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who made his first visit to Egypt in a decade in February. The Egyptian leader will also meet Russian business leaders.
At the centre of the Moscow talks are the creation of a Russian industrial zone in Egypt and a free trade agreement between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union, which comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, Egyptian media reported.
Egypt, with a population of nearly 90 million, heavily depends on Russia in covering its wheat needs.
Trade volume between the two countries last year reached $5.48 billion (Dh20.11 billion), $4.9 billion of which were Russian exports, according to official figures.
The main purpose of the current visit is to seal an agreement with Russia for building Egypt’s first nuclear plant in the area of Al Dabaa on the North Coast, state-run newspaper Al Ahram reported, quoting an unidentified source.
The power generated from the plant will be used to meet growing electricity demands in Egypt, which has suffered acute energy shortages in recent years, according to the Cairo-based newspaper.
In February, Egypt and Russia signed an initial accord on Russian assistance in building the plant.
“Al Sissi’s visit to Russia heralds a new stage in cooperation between the two countries on Al Dabaa station,” said Tarak Fahmy, a political science professor at Cairo University. “The visit will focus on finalising an agreement on beginning the implementation of this long-delayed project.”
Ties between Cairo and Moscow have improved remarkably in recent months. Last year, the two countries signed a multi-billion arms deal.
The rapprochement is seen as a Russian bid to counterbalance Western influence in the Middle East.
Egypt and the now-defunct Soviet Union shared close links in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, their relations were strained after the then Egyptian president Anwar Al Sadat scrapped military cooperation pacts with the Soviets and made a dramatic shift towards the US.
