President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to cooperate on nuclear power.

Russia will provide technical assistance for Egypt’s planned nuclear power plant at El-Dabaa, contributing to the construction of a nuclear power plant, training staff and scientific research.

“If final decisions are made, they will relate not only to the construction of a nuclear power plant, but also to the creation of a whole new nuclear power industry in Egypt,” said Putin at a press conference in Cairo on 10 February.

El-Dabaa nuclear power plant will have four reactors of 1,200MW each.

The talks also covered natural gas. Egypt is facing shortages due to lack of investment despite its reserves and has been forced to import gas.

Gas shortages and insufficient, ageing power generation capacity have caused regular power cuts in Egypt over the summer months over the last few years. This prompted nuclear plans at El-Dabaa, originally proposed in the 1980s, to be revived in 2007.

After Al-Sisi became president in 2013, he made nuclear power one of his key priorities.

It is still unclear how Egypt will finance the El-Dabaa project, which is likely to cost $6bn.

Several international companies from Russia, Japan and the US were reportedly interested in the scheme.

Egypt and Russia have also agreed to improve trade and investment links, and cooperate against terrorism.