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

There was a good demand in Egypt for VAZ cars, Ural and
KAMAZ trucks, road construction machines and Ural motorcycles.
In 1999 Russia supplied machines and equipment to Egypt in the
amount of $150 million.
Russia’s share in the supplies of semi-finished goods of iron and
steel to Egypt is 55%, in plywood supply 43%, in newsprint 56%, in
timber 20% and in polymers 15% 20 .
The Egyptian government considered the size of Egyptian exports
to Russia impermissibly low. Egypt’s share in the total import
to Russia is just 0.05%. 21 The structure of Russian imports from
Egypt is relatively diversified (as compared to other African countries).
But on the whole, first of all, Russian companies import
Egyptian consumer goods and foodstuffs. Oranges account for 20%
of this import. Russian shops are full of Egyptian rice, onions, garlic,
spaghetti, prepared soups and broths, karkade tea, razor blades,
perfumery, cosmetics, furniture, clothes and knitted garments.
So called Egyptian Weeks are held regularly in Moscow and
other major cities of the Russian Federation. The activity is a fairlike
event with the participation of major Egyptian exporters, quite
often those, who earlier had never entered the Russian market.
Egyptian weeks became the gateway for stable deliveries for such
(now established Egyptian trade partners) as Bella Donna (knitted
garments), Nounou Bros (cotton cloths and garments) and Nefertiti
Cosmetics (creams, shampoos, lotions). They began their successful
work in the Russian market with the contracts signed at those fairs.
The Egyptian Federation of Industries works to promote the
sales of fruit juices, tomatoes, dry and fresh fruits, flowers, car tires,
cigarettes, cotton and leather articles, yarn and quilts to Russia. A
quite promising field of trade is the supply of Egyptian medicines:
in the last 15 years Egypt achieved major successes in pharmaceutical
industry. It manufactures 90% of the main medicines applied in
all branches of health care. Annual purchases of foreign medicines
by Russia amounted to 1.6 billion rubles, of which Egypt accounted
for just 0.5 million (0.03%).
In addition, Russia can import chilled vegetables, which are
much cheaper in Egypt than in Europe. Russia imported this mer-
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