Egypt gets $25 billion loan from Russia for nuclear plant

CAIRO – Egypt has announced a $25 billion loan from Russia for the building of a nuclear power plant.

Thursday's announcement came in a decree by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. The Russian loan will cover 85 percent of the expenses of the plant's construction.

Egypt, which will cover the other 15 percent, is to repay the loan over a 22-year period, starting in 2029, with a 3 percent annual interest rate.

Egypt and Russia agreed in February 2015 to build the plant together and signed a memorandum of understanding on the project. But the relations between the two nations were badly impacted after the horrific Russian passenger plane crash in Sinai last October, when all 224 people on board were killed.

Egypt's economy has plummeted amid a slump in the tourism sector.