Russia to Export over 1 Million Tonnes of Grain Annually to Egypt

Russia has made an agreement concerning grain export to Egypt. This is according to the statement made at a press conference yesterday by Alexei Gordeyev, Russia's Minister of Agriculture. Mr. Gordeyev said that an agreement had been signed during his visit to Egypt, under which Russia will export to the country 1 million tonnes of grain annually. On the whole, Egypt buys 7 million tonnes of grain per year, of which 5 million tonnes goes to the government, the rest to commercial companies.

Mr. Gordeyev added that Russia would sell 9,5 million tonnes of grain between July 1, 2002 and January 1, 2003, which makes for a 100% increase year-on- year. The minister said that important, as concerned the development of agricultural export, was the construction of terminals at seaports. Allocated for the purpose this year has been USD 3 million to pay for the carrying out of 3 competitively selected projects.