NOVO-OGARYOVO (Russia), March 25: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin oversaw the signing on Tuesday of a deal that will enable Moscow to bid for the construction of Egypt’s first atomic power station.

The head of Russia’s Rosatom nuclear energy agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, and Egyptian Energy Minister Hassan Younis signed the civilian nuclear cooperation accord at Putin’s residence just outside Moscow.

The agreement, which has taken years to draw up, will allow Russia to bid in an international tender for $1.5-1.8 billion reactor project on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.

Mubarak said the deal was reached after “difficult” negotiations, Interfax news agency reported.

Putin praised Egypt as “one of the leaders of the Islamic and the Arab world” and said Russo-Egyptian relations were of “strategic importance.” President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, who takes over the Kremlin from Putin in May, told Mubarak he expected a “productive partnership” in the nuclear sphere, ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

Russia — which is close to completing Iran’s controversial first nuclear facility in Bushehr, and also recently signed a contract for a reactor in Bulgaria — is keen to reestablish a commercial and diplomatic presence in the Middle East.

The region was a stronghold of Soviet influence before the end of the Cold War and the subsequent surge of US dominance.

Today, nuclear technology and conventional weapons sales are again giving Moscow a foot in the door. Mubarak was expected also to discuss possible arms deals on Tuesday.

Even if ties are a long way from the days when Middle Eastern elites routinely studied and trained in the Soviet Union, throngs of sun-seeking Russians are making their own mark by flooding to Egypt’s coastal resorts in growing numbers.

In an interview with state-owned Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily, Mubarak voiced “full satisfaction with the level of international political consultations between Cairo and Moscow.

“However, since friends must always be open with each other, I must say that I am not as happy with the volume of Russian investment into Egypt’s economy,” Mubarak added.

Kommersant had reported that the nuclear cooperation deal had been top of the agenda Its sources had hinted that “Moscow gave some ground to Cairo and now expects an answer,” it said.

The daily added: “Moscow particularly hopes that Cairo will return to buying Russian arms.” The Nezavisimaya daily echoed that theme in its headline: “Cairo is interested in Russian nuclear technologies and (conventional) weapons.” Mubarak arrived in Moscow on Monday and was due to leave on Wednesday.

His visit came days before an Arab summit in Damascus, Syria, scheduled for March 29-30, which has been mired in controversy.

Some Arab states have said they will not attend if the Lebanese parliament has not elected a president by then.

Regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt have blamed Syria, which has been the dominant political and military force in Lebanon for decades, for obstructing the election.—AFP