RUSSIA-EGYPT RELATIONS

Russia and Egypt first established diplomatic relations on August 26, 1943 and the two countries are currently engaged in active political dialogue

President of Russia Vladimir Putin was in Egypt from April 26−27, 2005, the first official visit to the country by a Russian head of state in 40 years. Following this meeting, the sides made a joint statement on partnership and deepening friendly relations...

President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak visited Russia five times between 1997 and 2008 (September 1997, April 2001, May 2004, November 2006 and March 2008)..

On June 22−23, 2009, the then President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, visited Egypt, and a treaty on strategic partnership between the two countries was signed. The State Duma later suspended its ratification for an indefinite time because of the 2011 political crisis in Egypt).

President Putin met with the then President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, on March 27, 2013, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Durban (South Africa) and Mr Morsi paid a working visit to Russia on April 18−19, 2013.

On August 12, 2014, President Putin received Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who assumed office as President on June 8, 2014.

On February 9−10, 2015 President Putin visited Egypt.

On May 8−10, 2015 President el-Sisi attended celebrations of the 70^th anniversary of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War.

On August 25−27, 2015 President el-Sisi paid an official visit to Russia at President Putin’s invitation. The Egyptian leader also met then State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and several Russian ministers.

On September 5, 2016 President Putin met President el-Sisi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hangzhou (China).

On August 6, 2015, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Egypt to attend the opening ceremony of the New Suez Canal and met with President el-Sisi on the sidelines

On December 16, 2014 Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich paid a visit to Egypt and was received by President el-Sisi and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab.

Most recently, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Egypt on February 28 − March 1, 2017 and was received by President el-Sisi.

The foreign ministries of Russia and Egypt are in regular contact. On September 4, 2004, during Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Egypt they signed a protocol on strategic cooperation and dialogue.

Egypt’s foreign ministers visited Russia in June 1996, February 2000, May 2002, October 2005, December 2007, May 2009, December 2010, December 2011, December 2012, September 2013, March 2016, and August 2017 while Russian foreign ministers visited Egypt in April 1999, March and November 2000, February 2001, July 2003, September 2004, December 2006, February and December 2009, June 2010, December 2011, and March and December 2012.

In addition, Russian and Egyptian foreign ministers regularly meet during international and regional forums and on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly sessions in New York.

 On November 14, 2013, Cairo for the first time hosted talks of the foreign and defence ministers of Russia and Egypt in the 2+2 format. They were attended by Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoigu on the Russian side, and Nabil Fahmy and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the Egyptian side. A second round of talks in the 2+2 format was held in Moscow on February 13, 2014. On May 29, 2017 Cairo hosted a third round of talks in the same format, during which Foreign Minister Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu were received by President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

On March 28−29, 2005, the Speaker of the Federal Assembly Federation Council paid an official visit to Egypt. In April the following year, Speaker of the National Assembly of Egypt Ahmed Fathi Sourour visited Moscow.. Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly Sergey Naryshkin arrived in Egypt on June 8, 2014 to attend the official inauguration of President el-Sisi.

Inter-parliamentary contacts were suspended after the revolutionary events of 2011. The National Assembly of Egypt (lower house of parliament) was dissolved on June 14, 2012,and the Shura (Consultative) Council (upper house), disbanded on July 5, 2013. After the House of Representatives, (a unicameral parliament), was set up in December 2015, State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin visited Egypt. On January 26, 2016, he held talks with House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdel Aal and was received by President el-Sisi.

On July 12−15, 2016 Dr Ali Abdel Aal paid a reciprocal visit to Moscow at Mr Naryshkin’s invitation. Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko met Abdel Aal on the sidelines of the 135^th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva on October 26−27, paving the way for an official visit to Egypt by Ms Matviyenko on March 3−5, 2017, during which she met with President el-Sisi, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel Aal.

On March 2, 2015, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev met with President el-Sisi and held discussions with Presidential National Security Adviser of Egypt Faiza Abou el-Naga.

On June 23−25, 2015, Ms el-Naga and Secretary-General of Egypt’s National Security Council Khaled El Bakly participated in the Sixth International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues in Ulan Ude, Russia. On May 23−25, 2016, Ms el-Nata attended its seventh session in Grozny, Russia, and spoke with Mr Patrushev on the sidelines. On May 25, 2017 Ms el-Naga and Adviser on Security and Counter-Terrorism Affairs Gamal el-Din met with Mr Patrushev while attending the eighth session.

On December 26, 2015 President el-Sisi met Special Presidential Representative for Syria Ambassador at Large Alexander Lavrentyev. On July 27−29, 2016, Egypt’s Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek visited Moscow at the invitation of his Russian colleague, Yury Chaika, meeting him and Head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin. During this visit, the sides signed the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the two countries’ prosecutor general’s offices.

On September 27, 2016 Russian Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov visited Egypt and was received by President el-Sisi.

Russia and Egypt are also developing interfaith cooperation. On April 10−12, 2010, His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill visited Egypt as part of a tour of local churches. He met Egyptian Parliament Speaker Fathi Sourour, Head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria Patriarch Theodore II, Coptic Pope Shenouda III and Ahmad Al-Tayyib, Grand Imam of al-Azhar (one of the largest Islamic universities).

 The head of the Coptic Church, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St Mark Tawadros II visited Russia in the period from October 28 to November 4, 2014, at the invitation of Patriarch Kirill. During this visit, he met Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

On February 5−7, 2016, Cairo hosted the first meeting on the Commission on Dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church. The agreement on establishing this commission was reached by Patriarch Kirill and Coptic Pope Tawadros II in November 2014.

On May 22−24, 2017, Pope Tawadros II visited Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill.

In accordance with agreements reached at the talks between a delegation of the Russian Council on Islamic Education in Cairo in March 2016 and the heads of al-Azhar University, Russian students will be admitted to the Egyptian university only on the council’s recommendation.

On August 24−26, a delegation of al-Azhar University, chaired by its Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyib and member of the Council of Senior Ulema (Scholars) Sheikh Ali Jumaa, attended an international conference in the city of Grozny, Russia at the invitation of Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.

Finally, on November 20−23, 2016, Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa visited Moscow to attend Patriarch Kirill’s birthday celebrations.

Trade and economic relations, In 2015, trade went down by 30 percent to $4.1 billion, as compared with $5.48 billion in 2014. In 2016, it rose by 1.6 percent on 2015, to reach $4.156 billion. Russian exports increased by 2.9 percent to $3.782 billion. Imports from Egypt fell by 9.8 percent to $ 373.4 million.

The main Russian exports to Egypt in 2016 were: machinery and equipment ($1,328.9 million); wheat (5.823 million tonnes for $988.6 million); ferrous metals (1.662 million tonnes for $468.6 million); sawn timber (792.5 thousand tonnes for $212.2 million); sunflower oil (243.4 thousand tonnes for $184.2 million); oil products (506.6 thousand tonnes for $135.5 million); plywood (197.3 thousand tonnes for $94.1 million); and paper (104.1 thousand tonnes for $58 million).

The chief Russian imports from Egypt were: oranges (286.4 thousand tonnes for $147.7 million); textiles ($50.8 million); ready-to-wear clothes ($31.7 million); potatoes (133 thousand tonnes for $45.4 million); and onions and garlic (83.3 thousand tonnes for $30.5 million).

According to the Bank of Russia, discontinuation of direct air flights and tourist exchange in November 2015 meant bilateral trade in services reached a mere $20.5 million in 2016. By comparison, in previous years, it was as follows (in billion dollars): 2015 – 2.9; 2014 – 3.6; 2013 – 3.0; and 2012 – 3.55.

The two countries have a Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. Its Russian arm is chaired by Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and the Egyptian section’s chair is Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil. The tenth meeting of the commission took placed in Egypt on January 31− February 2, 2016.

The Russian-Egyptian Business Council (REBC) resumed its work on November 20, 2014. On the Russian side, it is chaired by President of the Ambika Group Mikhail Orlov, while his Egyptian counterpart is Head of the General Union of Chambers of Commerce of Egypt Ahmed El Wakil.

On March 1−3, 2016 Minister of Communications and Mass Media of Russia Nikolai Nikiforov paid a working visit to Egypt. He was received by Prime Minister of Egypt Sharif Ismail and conducted talks with Minister of Communications and Information Technology Yasser Elkady.

On October 5, 2016 Egyptian Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Essam Fayed met with his Russian counterpart Alexander Tkachyov and Head of Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) Sergey Dankvert.

On December 12, 2016, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin was received in Cairo by President of Egypt el-Sisi and conveyed a message from President of Russia Vladimir Putin. On March 27, 2017 Mr Sechin visited Egypt again to discuss the development of the Zohr gas deposit with the Egyptian President.

According to the Egyptian statistics service, over 400 companies were registered in Egypt as of January 1, 2016. About 85 percent of them specialised in services for Russian tourists.

The legal foundation of military-technical cooperation (MTC) includes the following protocol between the Russian and Egyptian governments: on mutual protection of classified information (signed on May 30, 2013); on military-technical cooperation (signed on March 25, 2014); and on military cooperation (signed on March 4, 2015).

On February 28 − March 5, 2015, Moscow hosted the first meeting of the Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission on MTC. It was chaired by Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu and his Egyptian counterpart, Sedki Sobhy. The second meeting took place in Cairo on November 21−26, 2015. The sides signed protocols on protection of intellectual property during bilateral MTC and on simplified procedures for entry of warships into each other’s ports. The third meeting was on the sidelines of the Army 2016 International Military-Technical Forum in Moscow on September 1−5, 2016. During the visit of Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander Fomin, the sides signed an inter-governmental protocol on granting Egypt access to the high precision signal of Russian global navigation satellite system GLONASS.

On October 15−26, 2016 Russia and Egypt staged joint anti-terrorist exercises “Defenders of friendship-2016,” involving more than 500 Russian and Egyptian paratroopers.

On November 19, 2015 the sides signed in Cairo intergovernmental agreements on the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant and on Russia’s state export loan to Egypt for these purposes. On December 31, 2016 the two countries signed the main commercial contract on building the nuclear power plant. In August 2017, they reached agreement on long-term contracts on the lifecycle of the nuclear power plant, supply of nuclear fuel, assistance in running the plant and disposal of nuclear waste.

Russia and Egypt are developing space cooperation. On April 16, 2014 a Russian rocket launched an Egyptian remote sensing earth observation satellite.

The sides are consolidating their ties in the area of science and education. Based on the results of the 2016/2017 enrollment campaign, 97 Egyptian citizens were given state-financed openings, and 427 self-funded Egyptian students were admitted to Russian educational institutions.

The Egyptian Russian University (ERU) is located in the city of Badr (45 km from Cairo). Its first students graduated in 2011. In 2014, it signed the agreement on cooperation with Russian State Humanitarian University (RSHU).

Regarding travel and tourism, according to the FSB Border Service, in 2014 Egypt was visited by 2.99 million Russian citizens (35 percent more than in 2013). Some 2.56 million of these were tourists. In 2015, 2.2 million Russians visited Egypt prior to suspension of direct air flights and tourist exchange on November 6, 2015 owing to the terrorist attack on the Russian Kogalymavia aircraft on October 31, 2015. Russia continues cooperating with Egypt to ensure proper security for Russian tourists at Egyptian airports and in the Red Sea resorts.