L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

However, there are harbingers of a revival of the Russian-
Egyptian trade and economic cooperation, both in the sphere of the
public sector and between private entities. The latter is considered a
priority in Egypt. Visiting Moscow in September 1997, President
Mubarak said: ‘In the economic cooperation with Russia we will
stake on the private sector, on the development of cooperation with
non-state-run enterprises’. 19
The present economic situation in Russia and Egypt, the possibility
to realize large-scale investment projects with the participation
of foreign capital, the financial capacities of Russia and Egypt, their
current investment legislation and banking policy make the prospects
of Egyptian private companies operating in Russia and of Russian
entities doing business in Egypt quite promising.
Till 1992, the trade between the USSR and Egypt was regulated
by the trade and payment agreements signed on June 23,
1962. They provided for mutual granting of the most favored nation
regime in trade and navigation. After the disintegration of the
USSR, the development of the Russian-Egyptian trade required a
regulatory basis. The negotiations held in Cairo resulted in an
agreement on the trade and economic, scientific and technological
cooperation signed on May 14, 1992; it provided for mutual payments
in hard currency (as opposed to the clearing agreements of
the Socialist era). On November 5, 1993, the agreement was supplemented
by a special protocol about mutual granting of the most
favored nation regime and the use of national currencies in bilateral
trade in addition to hard currency.
On November 9, 1994, a new agreement on the economic and
technological cooperation was signed by Russia and Egypt with a
list of branches and projects in industry, electric power generation
and irrigation, in which the parties intended to cooperate. In addition,
the same year an agreement was signed in Cairo on the mutual
debt settlement.
The first meeting of the joint Russian-Egyptian commission for
trade and economic, scientific and technological cooperation was
held in Moscow on September 18–22, 1997. Soon thereafter,
President Mubarak visited Russia and signed a series of agree-
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