The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt has canceled preventive import duties on steel billets, rebar and aluminum products regardless the country of origin, including from Ukraine.According to an official posting on the website of the Egyptian Ministry, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea has issued two orders to terminate resolutions No. 907 of 2019 and No. 168 of 2021, introducing preventive measures against the import of steel billets, rebar and aluminum products.According to this information, these two decisions come into force the next day after their publication in the Egyptian Gazette.As the minister explained, both decisions were made to support the sectors of the economy due to high inflation rates, growth in energy, materials and to meet the production needs of Egyptian companies.In turn, Ibrahim al Seginy, Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs and Head of the Commercial Processing Sector, explained that the sector received a number of complaints from the local industry, as the introduction of preventive duties affected these sectors. At the same time, it was recorded that there was a significant increase in prices for these goods, as well as the lack of a sufficient number of local substitute products to meet the needs of the local market. It also affected the high cost of finished goods, which negatively affects the competitiveness of Egyptian exports.According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, on April 15, 2019, Egypt announced the introduction of temporary protective duties on steel products (for fittings in the amount of 17-25%, semi-finished products made of iron and unalloyed steel – 10-16%, depending on the price).This measure was introduced by Egypt to protect local steel producers from an increase in steel supplies to the country after the closure of the American market (as a result of the US government’s imposition of barrage measures on steel and retaliatory measures from other countries, including the EU). These restrictions were supposed to be valid until April 11, 2022.
Ukraine and Egypt will hold the Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic and Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Cairo on December 14 to December 16, the Economy Ministry said on the website, following the meeting of Deputy Economy Minister, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka with Egyptian Ambassador to Ukraine Ayman Elgammal.
“We are currently conducting a study on the possibility of concluding an agreement on a free trade area with Egypt. Ukraine is interested in increasing the supply of agricultural and food products, vehicles, electrical equipment, engineering products,” the ministry’s press service said, citing Kachka.
He said that Egypt occupies a leading position among the countries of Africa and the Arab world in terms of trade with Ukraine. According to the results within the period of January-August 2021, trade between the countries amounted to $1.044 billion, for the entire last year to $1.7 billion.
According to the Ukrainian side, a major project of the Egyptian government, namely the construction of the new capital Vedian is interesting concerning the possibility of participation of Ukrainian business.
JSC Zaporizhtransformator (ZTR), part of Energy Standard Group of businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, will ship a single-phase reactor to Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) by the end of this year.
According to a report on the ZTR website, the enterprise has a long-standing cooperation with Egypt – the equipment has been supplied there since the 90s, when ZTR was just mastering work in foreign markets, and Egypt was a priority.
Reactors manufactured by ZTR are installed at EETC, therefore, the press service notes, it is not surprising that ZTR was the first enterprise with which the customer began to work on the issue of manufacturing a single-phase reactor as part of an urgent and important project.
“The substation where the equipment is planned to be installed is of strategic importance for Egypt, being a link between Egypt and Jordan,” the report says.
ZTR emphasizes that the shipment of equipment will be carried out by container lines (and not in a cargo hold of a ship) – such a scheme was used by the enterprise for the first time this year when shipping three reactors to Argentina due to small overall dimensions of the equipment.
At the same time, according to ZTR, transportation costs have been more than halved, which, in turn, increases the competitiveness of the enterprise and makes it possible to participate in tenders on other continents along with local manufacturers.
ZTR has experience in deliveries to 88 countries. It manufactures power oil transformers, electric reactors and controlled shunt reactors.
Since July 2020, some 1.3 million Ukrainian tourists have visited Egypt, among them about 30 cases of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease have been recorded during this period, Vice Minister for Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Ghada Shalaby told reporters on Wednesday.
According to her, during the specified period, among Ukrainian tourists vacationing in Egypt, one or two deaths from COVID-19 were recorded.
Shalaby said that currently, in the main resort regions of Egypt – Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada, 400 beds have been prepared for tourists in hospitals, where they can be hospitalized in case of a severe course of COVID-19.
In these clinics, 120 lung ventilators are installed, to which patients can be connected if necessary.
According to Shalaby, if a foreign tourist needs to be hospitalized with COVID-19 in other regions, in particular in Cairo, local clinics are used, in which there is no shortage of places for tourists.
There are always places in clinics if necessary, she said.
Shalaby said that the treatment of tourists from COVID-19 is covered by insurance that tourists purchase.
Commenting on the issues of vaccination against COVID-19, Shalaby said that Egypt recognizes all vaccines registered in the world, including the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine and documents confirming the completion of the full vaccination course.
She did not rule out that over time, Egypt will be able to offer tourists the opportunity to vaccinate against COVID-19 on commercial terms.
Shalaby said that Egypt’s tourism workers are currently being actively vaccinated.
She said that those workers in the tourism industry who have not yet been vaccinated are transferred to those areas of work where there is no direct contact with tourists. Only vaccinated people work with tourists.
Shalaby said the authorities have now increased the allowed hotel occupancy rate from 50% to 70%. At the same time, she predicts that this figure is unlikely to be increased in the near future.
It is unlikely that 100% hotel occupancy will be accommodated, Shalaby said.
Egypt will launch a mobile application for tourists that will help them plan their holidays more efficiently, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt Khaled El-Anany told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Accommodation, transport services, and offers for a wide variety of recreation: museums, activities will be combined on one platform,” the minister said.
According to him, the mobile application meets the trends of post-visual reality, when people prefer to relax in a more secluded way and independently plan their pastime, choosing and paying for services using the platform.
The minister said the mobile application will be launched within three months.
Mykolaiv Locomotive Repair Plant has entered into a cooperation agreement with the official representative of the Egyptian National Railways for the modernization of 55 locomotives of the AD Tranz series, the enterprise’s press service said on Facebook.
“The modernization will be carried out both at the facilities of our plant and at the facilities of Egyptian colleagues and partners who own locomotive repair plants in Egypt,” the report said, citing Director of Mykolaiv Locomotive Repair Plant Serhiy Roi.
According to him, a deep modernization of locomotives will be carried out with the installation of new diesel engines, new power and support equipment and microprocessor control systems, which will significantly improve the performance of locomotives and reduce the cost of their service.
“The partnership is planned for a long-term, since the declared number of locomotives in the future can be increased to 200 units,” Roi said.
The agreement, the value of which has not been disclosed, also provides for further maintenance of locomotives, in particular, the creation of a service department in Egypt, where representatives of Mykolaiv Locomotive Repair Plant will carry out engineering work for servicing locomotives.
The report notes that Egyptian locomotives are “younger” than those operated in the post-Soviet space and those the plant previously dealt with – they were produced in 1996-2010.
Mykolaiv Locomotive Repair Plant, established in 2010, specializes in maintenance, minor repairs and overhaul of locomotives, as well as other locomotive parts and assemblies.
