CAIRO — The Russian war on Ukraine and subsequent US and Western economic and political sanctions on Russia have cast doubt on the fate of a Russian industrial zone, construction for which was scheduled to begin this year in the new Suez Canal Economic Zone.
The deputy chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Maj. Gen. Mohamed Shaaban, told the local Al-Borsa news site on March 6 that “ambiguity currently prevails" over the final paperwork for the establishment of the industrial zone "due to the Russian war on Ukraine.”
Shaaban noted, however, that the trade agreement with the Russian side has been completed.
The agreement to establish a Russian industrial zone in Egypt was signed in mid-2018. According to the agreement, the industrial zone will cover an area of 5.25 million square meters (1,300 acres) on a usufruct basis and will attract investments estimated at $7 billion. The project is to be implemented in three phases over the course of 13 years. The first phase will cost about $190 million, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry.
An Egyptian government source who declined to be named told Al-Monitor, “The war between Russia and Ukraine will delay the implementation timetable of this project, which was scheduled to be launched this year. … Russia currently waging a war and facing severe international sanctions. We are following the developments and waiting to see what will happen in the coming days.”
Late last year, Russia's First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasiliy Osmakov said during the Made in Russia international export forum that his country would start financing its industrial zone in Egypt starting 2022.
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