South Korea has awarded a 3 trillion won ($2.25 billion) contract with Russia's state-owned nuclear power company to supply components and construct a turbine building for Egypt's first nuclear power plant, AP reported, citing official sources.

South Korean officials said the US had been consulted in advance about the deal and that technology supplied by Seoul for the project would not contravene international sanctions against Russia.

According to South Korea's presidential office and ministry of commerce, a contract between state-owned Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power and ASE requires the South Koreans to provide certain materials and equipment and construct a turbine building for the station under construction in Dabaa. This Mediterranean coastal city is located about 130 kilometers northwest of Cairo.

ASE is a subsidiary of Rosatom.

Yoon Suk Yeol, a senior aide to the South Korean president, said talks have slowed down due to "unexpected variables", mainly the situation around Ukraine and the US-led sanctions campaign against Moscow.

South Korea's senior economic secretary, Choi Sang-mok, said South Korea had provided the US with explanations in advance of its plans to participate in the Dabaa project, and that the allies would maintain close consultations as the work progressed. As part of the US-imposed sanctions against Moscow, South Korea has halted transactions with Russia's central bank and sovereign wealth funds and banned the export of strategic materials to Russia.

Neither Choi nor South Korean trade ministry officials elaborated on how the crisis in Ukraine and the sanctions against Moscow affected talks between Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power and ASE, which has awarded a contract with Egypt to build four 1,200-megawatt reactors.

Choi stressed that South Korea's participation in the project would not contradict international sanctions against Russia.

“Any kind of issue can be met by various uncertainties, but those have all been resolved as of now, and that’s why we were able to finalize the agreement,” Choi said.

Yoon's office expressed hope that South Korea's participation in the Dabaa project would help the country gain a foothold in future nuclear projects across Africa, as well as improve its chances of exporting to countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Saudi Arabia.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power had been negotiating with ASE as the preferred bidder for the turbine project since December prior to the Ukraine events.

Yoon said in a Facebook statement that the deal confirms South Korea's advanced technology and security, as well as strong supply chains in nuclear power. His government has set a goal of exporting 10 nuclear power reactors by 2030.