Egyptian-Russian ties are witnessing remarkable progress thanks to the genuine political will of both countries to give extra boost to such ties in diverse domains. In light of such progress, Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko has recently held a press conference on spheres of co-operation.
Environment
The ambassador told The Egyptian Gazette that Russia is a responsible member of the international community and Russia is working hard to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. “That is why we often produce electricity from nuclear power plants: 20 per cent of energy is produced of nuclear energy. In twenty years, we hope we will have 25 per cent,” Borisenko said.
The ambassador went on to say that nuclear energy is a green energy and that is why Egypt is also going to produce its own nuclear energy. Egypt together with Russia is building the first nuclear plant in el-Dabaa.
As for COP27, the ambassador said Russia welcomes the news that Egypt is to host this conference. “We believe this is in recognition of Egypt’s contributions to this field,” Borisenko added.
Political, humanitarian ties
The Russian ambassador said bilateral ties have been developing in 2021 as both presidents exchanged several letters and talked three times by phone.
Borisenko believes that resuming flights was a milestone in bilateral ties.
“On April 23, they resumed full air traffic between our countries. On November 15 and this week, they discussed the bilateral ties. On August 9, the first regular flight arrived from our country to Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh. Starting from November, we will have direct charter flights to these resorts from many Russian cities.
“Russia values partnership with Egypt. We continue to strengthen our strategic partnership with Egypt,” he said.
Regarding humanitarian co-operation, the ambassador said that 2021 is the year of Egypt-Russia humanitarian co-operation, promoting cultural, educational, scientific and other people-to-people contacts.
“We are happy that many Egyptians are learning Russian language at Egyptian universities or at Russian cultural centres in Cairo and Alexandria,” he said.
The ambassador went on to say that Russia is please that Egyptians became familiar with its culture. “This year was marked by performances at the Cairo Opera House and in al-Manara Theatre. We are doing our best to promote cultural exchanges in 2021 and the years to come,” Borisenko said.
Economic ties
Russia’s investments in Egypt currently stand at $8 billion, the envoy said.
“Egypt is our greatest trade and economic partner in Africa. One third of Russia’s trade with Africa is with Egypt,” Borisenko said.
The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Russia hit $3.5 billion from January to September 2021, which means that economic ties are recovering after losses caused by the pandemic, the ambassador told the press conference.
“Egypt will be the guest of honour of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will be held in June 2022,” he said.
Borisenko added that the Covid-19 pandemic had badly affected the al-Dabaa nuclear power plant, but the work will undoubtedly resume in this project, which will attract $7 billion in Russian investments.
Vaccine production
The ambassador pointed out that Russia is the first country to develop a vaccine against coronavirus. He added that his country exported large quantities of Sputnik vaccines to Egypt this year, noting that the vaccine technology will be transferred to Egypt.
“Starting from next year, Minapharm is to produce 40 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in Egypt,” he said.
Similar approach
The ambassador said that Russia and Egypt are close partners in combating terrorism.
“We are working very actively in the United Nations regarding conventions that combat terrorism. We have total mutual understanding in this field. We hope that by 2024, a certain convention will be imposed to combat terrorism, extremism and any discriminatory activities on social networks,” he added.
The ambassador reiterated that both countries have high-level co-operation in the field of combating international terrorism and information security.
On regional issues, the ambassador said that both countries have similar positions for Libya and Sudan. “We have similar approach towards Libya as an independent and territorially integral country. Both of our countries wish to see Libyan elections as soon as possible after this delay. This is very important for political stability in Libya.”
As for Sudan, Russia believes that only the Sudanese people have the right to determine their future. “We hope the country will reach security and will be able to conduct elections as planned.”
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