Egypt may replace Turkey in Russian market following sanctions

Egypt is seeing an opportunity and is ready to fill the gap resulted in Russia’s decision to ban Turkish imports following a list of recently announced sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed Saturday a decree imposing a raft of punitive economic sanctions against Turkey, underlining the depth of the Kremlin’s anger toward Ankara four days after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane.

In the decree, Putin ordered the government to prepare a list of goods, firms and jobs that would be affected. Some of the measures announced have already been informally introduced.

Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Qabil said his country is interested to meet the Russian market’s needs, notably of the products used to be imported from Turkey.

The Turkish exports to Russia mainly include vegetables and fruits, which capture 66 percent, followed by clothes and leather.

The Egyptian minister further said that the cooperation between Cairo and Moscow in the field of automobile production, particularly trucks, is one of the most promising areas for joint investment between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Qabil offered his Russian counterpart Dennis Masarurov to replace Turkey in the Russian market, Russia’s state-run Sputnik news agency reported. He asked for a detailed list of Turkey’s exports to Russia to coordinate with Egyptian exporters over the issue.