The deal was signed at a conference attended by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Egyptian Defence Minister Sedky Sobhi and French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
A French delegation arrived to Egypt ahead of the deal, including French Prime Minister Manuel Valls as well as 63 diplomats and journalists.
The visit is expected to involve other deals, mostly economic.
The two Mistral warships were originally built by France for Russia before the sale was scrapped over the Ukraine crisis.
According to AFP, the two warships can each carry 16 helicopters, four landing craft and 13 tanks, and were ordered by Russia in 2011 in a 1.2 billion-euro ($1.3-billion) deal.
Paris and Cairo have enjoyed close economic ties in the past, but the turmoil that followed the overthrow of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 left Western governments wary of signing deals, especially ones pertaining to defence.
In February, Egypt announced a 5.2 billion-euro deal to buy 24 French Rafale jet fighters.
In the same month, Egypt signed a contract with the French company VINCI Bouygues Travaux Public to complete the construction of the fourth phase of Cairo’s third metro line.
French officials from the country’s development agency, who attended Egypt’s economic development conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in March, announced that the agency will provide a 40 million-euro sovereign loan to finance a power plant in Kom Ombo in Upper Egypt.
ahram.org.eg
10/10/15
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Related:
Russia received twice more than paid for Mistrals in ruble equivalent due to devaluation
Hollande, Putin agree compensation for cancelled Mistral deal
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Le contrat définitif sur l'acquisition des deux navires Mistral par l'Egypte a été signé samedi dans le cadre d'une visite de Manuel Valls au Caire...
ReplyDeleteSelon l'accord conclu, les deux porte-hélicoptères seront livrés par la France à l'Egypte début mars 2016.
Les porte-hélicoptères de classe Mistral ont initialement été construits en France pour la Russie. Cependant, Paris a refusé de les livrer, motivant sa décision par la position de Moscou sur la crise ukrainienne. Début août 2015, la Russie et la France ont résilié le contrat. Peu après, on a appris que Paris envisageait de vendre les BPC à l'Egypte au prix de 950 millions d'euros, soit l'équivalent de ce que la France a versé à la Russie à titre d'indemnité pour la rupture du contrat.
Selon des sources françaises et égyptiennes, la majeure partie de cette somme sera débloquée par l'Arabie saoudite.
http://sptnkne.ws/SXk