ROME (Reuters) - Italian defence company Finmeccanica (>> Finmeccanica SpA) will finalise a multi-billion contract from Kuwait for 28 Eurofighter jets on Tuesday, two sources close to the deal told Reuters on Monday.

Kuwait signed a memorandum of understanding in September to buy the planes, but efforts to close the deal have hit repeated snags and a third source urged continued caution.

Finmeccanica declined to comment.

The 20-year contract is expected to be worth between 7 billion and 8 billion euros ($8 billion-$9.1 billion), with Finmeccanica's share seen at roughly half of the total.

The rest is in the hands of a group of companies in the Eurofighter consortium, including planemaker Airbus (>> Airbus Group) and Britain's BAE Systems (>> BAE Systems plc).

Finmeccanica Chief Executive Officer Mauro Moretti said in March that the state-owned conglomerate was in the final stages of discussion with Kuwait over the deal and hoped "to conclude in a short period".

Kuwait's parliament recently approved a law allowing the government to pay an advance of some 150 million dinars ($500 million) for the contract.

Delays in the multi-billion-euro contract have put pressure on Finmeccanica shares, but the stock was up 2.45 pct on Monday amid speculation it was ready to be finalised.

(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli and Alberto Sisto; writing by Giulia Segreti; editing by Crispian Balmer and David Clarke)

Stocks treated in this article : Airbus Group, Finmeccanica SpA, BAE Systems plc