Egypt Wants to Import Russian Grain through Crimea Ports

Egypt is interested in beginning to purchase Russian grain through Crimea’s ports, Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Georgy Muradov told TASS.

“We met with the Egyptians. They say they are very interested in increasing Russian grain supplies. The fact that grain will be transported through Crimea’s ports suits them,” he said.

According to Muradov, Crimea’s ports have necessary capabilities for that. There are grain elevators near Kerch, Yevpatoria and other districts of Crimea.

He also pointed to the prospects for tourism cooperation with African countries.

“Northern Africa is located in a desert area. We met with representatives of some Arab countries some time ago, which have a similar climate. During the hot season, many would like to come to our Crimean resorts to spend vacations there. For African countries, this is a very promising area [of cooperation] as well,” he added.

In August, it was reported that Russian state-controlled grain trader United Grain Company (UGC) is looking to expand grain exports by selling to Egypt, the world’s top wheat importer and the largest buyer of Russian wheat, it said on Wednesday.

Egypt’s state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) held a wheat purchase tender on Tuesday, which showed a newcomer – Grain Export SA – among its participants.