Russia in talks on producing sunflower oil in Egypt - deputy PM

CAIRO. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Russia is interested in setting up production of sunflower oil in Egypt and this issue was raised during a Russian delegation's visit to Cairo, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, who led the delegation, told reporters.

"We have very active cooperation in the area of agriculture. Purchases of our grain are made here, we're thinking about setting up sunflower oil processing here, on the territory of Egypt," he said.

On Tuesday, Overchuk held meetings with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Deputy Prime Minister for industrial development and Industry and Transport Minister Kamel Al-Wazir and Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Hassan El-Khatib.

In addition to agriculture, they discussed cooperation in various areas of the fuel and energy sector, Overchuk said. "Traditionally, we discussed issues related to the development of energy, not only in the nuclear sector," he said.

Russia exported more than $3 billion worth of agricultural products to Egypt in 2024, 20% more than in the previous year, the federal Agroexport Center reported earlier. The main export commodity was wheat, which accounted for 84% of these exports. Sunflower oil made up 13%, soybean oil 2%, and dried lentils and chickpeas each made up less than 1%.

Egypt's role as a logistics and investment hub in North Africa and the Middle East is very important for Russian foreign trade, Agroexport said.