Russia to Boost Trade With Egypt After Banning Western Imports

Russia will increase wheat exports to Egypt and imports of Egyptian agricultural products, according to the Kremlin.

Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, a week after Russia banned a range of food and agricultural products from Western countries.

"Egypt has already increased agricultural supplies to our market by 30% and is ready to increase supplies by yet another 30% in the near future," Putin said after meeting with Sisi.

Russia banned most food imports from the European Union, United States, Canada, Norway and Australia in early August, after the West imposed its toughest sanctions yet on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

The EU and the US had imposed penalties on entire sectors of the Russian economy, including the banking, defence and energy sectors, accusing pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine of shooting down the Malaysian passenger airliner MH17 with a Moscow-supplied missile.

Boosting imports from Egypt would make up for around half of the potatoes, onion and garlic lost due to Moscow's ban, the country's agriculture minister told journalists.

For its part, Egypt is the world's biggest wheat importer and the largest buyer of Russian wheat. Cairo bought 3.6 million tonnes of Russian wheat in the year to June, and Putin said it would export at least 5 million tonnes to Cairo in the current year.

Russia and Egypt have previously discussed the possibility of establishing a free trade agreement between the two parties, although they are yet to establish a free trade zone.