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

ment of the Russian Federation 1057 as of 13 September
1994 Egypt was included into the ranks of countries enjoying the
benefits of a special preference scheme in trade with the Russian Federation.
Russia unilaterally reduced the import custom duties for the
bulk of Egyptian goods by 75 per cent (compared to the basic level).
Lately, the trade and economic cooperation with Egypt develops
in a dynamic way (Table 3.3.3). Between 2004 and 2008 foreign
trade between the countries grew 2.5 times. The Russian exports
increased 2.5 times. However, Egypt’s share in the overall turnover
of Russian foreign trade remains insignificant (0,3–0,4%) and does
not correspond to the real potential of trade between them.
In 2008, the trade turnover shrank by 2.8 per cent compared with
2007. During the first nine months of 2009, despite the global economic
crisis the trade turnover between the countries increased by
15,4 per cent. Russian exports grew by 19,1 per cent.
Table 3.3.3. Trade between Russia and Egypt in 2004–2010
(according to the Russian customs statistics), million USD
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010*
Turnover 830.2 1125.8 1373.0 2124.8 2064.7 2036.4 2103.1
year on year
increase in%
199.4 135.6 122.0 154.8 97.2 98.7 117.5
Exports 774.1 1048.5 1241.4 1951.6 1856.3 1487.3 1855.6
year on year
increase in%
205.0 135.4 118.4 157.2 95.1 98.3 115.6
Imports 56.1 77.4 131.6 173.2 208.4 182.3 247.5
year on year
increase in%
* 11 months.
145.0 137.9 170.1 131.6 120.4 103.1 133.9
The current structure of Russian exports is as follows. Predominantly
it consists of: food and raw materials, mainly of agricultural
origin (38,4% in 2008 .), timber, cellulose and paper goods
(24,6%), metals and metal products (23,0%), machines, equipment,
means of transport (4,3%), chemical industry products (2,2%). The
share of each group and/or commodities varied significantly from
173