Business news from Ukraine

Ukrainian President discusses by phone with Egyptian President opening of food hubs in Africa

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky discussed with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah As-Sisi the issues of strengthening food security and cooperation in the opening of food hubs in Africa by Ukraine.

According to the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian head of state on Thursday, the parties also noted the importance of extending the “grain initiative.”

“Supported the goals and principles of the UN Charter, in particular the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” the message said. Earlier, the “Club of experts” in a video review analyzed trade and economic relations between Egypt and Ukraine, see more at the link on the channel of the club:

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Ukraine and Egypt are considering implementation of joint logistics projects in agro-industrial complex

Ukraine and Egypt are considering the realization of joint logistics projects in agriculture, in particular the creation of a logistics hub in Egypt for supplying Ukrainian grain.
As reported on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, the relevant agreements were reached during the meeting between the head of the Ministry Nicholas Solsky and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Ukraine Ayman Ahmed Mukhtar Elgammal.
“They paid special attention to the detailed discussion of the possibility of expanding trade relations between Ukraine and Egypt and deepening cooperation in the agricultural sector. Mr. Ayman Ahmed Mukhtar Elgammal expressed Egypt’s interest in the implementation of joint agricultural logistics projects. We are talking, in particular, about the creation of a logistics hub for grain supplies. Mykola Solskyy noted that Ukraine will consider Egypt’s proposal,” – was stated in the report of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
Also during the meeting, the parties discussed the implementation of the humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine and Ukraine’s role in ensuring food security of the world.
As reported, a similar desire to build hubs for the importation of Ukrainian agricultural products expressed Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana during the visit of delegations of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy to African countries in January 2023.
The State Agency for Food Purchasing of Egypt (GASC) purchased 60 thousand tons of corn of Ukrainian origin on February 6. The agricultural products were purchased from the operator Egyptian African Co in two batches of 30,000 tons each at a price of $323/ton.

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Ukrainian Port of Reni for the first time received a ship with citrus fruits from Egypt

Port of Reni for the first time since the independence of Ukraine has attracted a new cargo flow – citrus fruits from Egypt, which in peacetime went through the larger ports of “Big Odessa”, the Administration of Sea Ports of Ukraine (AMPU) reported on Facebook.

“Last week a refrigerated vessel “ZEINAB”, equipped with enhanced ventilation and refrigeration units for the transportation of perishable goods, arrived at the port of Reni,” AMPU said in a statement.

In particular, 519.9 tons of fruit were delivered from Egypt: 150.3 tons of oranges, 169.4 tons of pomegranates, 31.05 tons of lemons and 169 tons of tangerines.

AMPU specified that citrus fruits were traditionally transshipped by Chornomorsk and Odessa ports.

The leader among them was the port “Chernomorsk”, which transshipped 253 thousand tons of citrus in the last five years: in 2018 – 83.6 thousand tons, in 2019 – 74.1 thousand tons, in 2020 – 43 thousand tons, in 2021 – 35.5 thousand tons and in 2022 – 16.8 thousand tons.

Port “Odessa” during the same period transshipped 134.2 thousand tons of citrus: in 2018 – 45.4 thousand tons, in 2019 – 40.4 thousand tons, in 2020 – 26.5 thousand tons, in 2021 – 14.3 thousand tons and in 2022 – 7.6 thousand tons.

AMPU reminded that now the ports of Greater Odessa work only within the framework of the “grain initiative”, so the cargo owners are forced to seek other ways to deliver citrus to consumers.
Earlier analytical project “Club of Experts” analyzed in detail the trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Egypt, see in detail in the video:

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Archaeologists found oldest mummy in Egypt

Archaeologists in Egypt have found a mummy 4.3 thousand years old: in all likelihood, this is the oldest such find ever made in this country and preserved in such good condition.
The mummy was found near the oldest Egyptian pyramid of Djoser (the village of Saqqara, 25 km south of Egypt) at the bottom of a 15-meter deep mine. The head of the archaeological team, former Egyptian antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, told reporters that burials dating back to the V (ca. 2504 to 2347 B.C.) and VI (ca. 2347 to 2216 B.C.) dynasties of ancient Egypt were found here.
“This mummy may be the oldest and most preserved found in Egypt to this day,” he stressed.
The mummy of a man named Hecashepes was placed in a limestone sarcophagus and sealed the lid with mortar.
Another tomb belonged to Khnumdjedef (Khnumdjedef in English), a priest, an “inspector” who supervised officials and aristocrats, and who served under the last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty, Unis (c. 2367 – 2347 BC). His tomb was decorated with scenes of daily life of those long ago times. Another tomb was the resting place of Meri, “keeper of secrets and assistant to the great lord of the palace. Numerous statuettes were also found in the underground crypt.

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Egypt bought 60 thousand tons of Ukrainian corn

Egyptian State Agency for Food Purchasing (GASC) has purchased 60 thousand tons of corn of Ukrainian origin under direct agreement, according to the website of “APK-Inform” agency on Monday.
According to its data, the agricultural products were purchased from the operator Egyptian African Co in two batches of 30 thousand tons each. The price of corn was $323/ton, including corn itself bought at $308/ton on FOB terms (delivery of goods before loading on board the ship), and the freight of the ship cost $15/ton.
Corn delivery to Egypt should take place from the second half of February to the beginning of March 2023.

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Egypt remains one of most favorable trade partners of Ukraine – experts

In the next video YouTube-channel of the analytical center “Club of experts” the prospects of trade and economic relations between Ukraine and Egypt were considered.

As the founder of the Club of Experts Maxim Urakin emphasized, before the war Egypt was the most favorable trade partner for Ukraine, the trade surplus with which amounted to almost 2 billion U.S. dollars. Grain and metallurgical products were the main Ukrainian goods at the Egyptian market.

At the same time, in the first months of the war, the Russian blockade of maritime communications in the Black Sea limited Ukrainian exports to Africa and, above all, to Egypt. The grain agreement improved the situation, but only with regard to agricultural exports. In order not to lose the Egyptian market, the Ukrainian companies have to adapt to the current situation now in order not to make additional efforts after the war.

According to the President of the Ukrainian Exporters Club Eugenia Litvinova, the Ukrainian producers should pay attention to the Egyptian market of dairy products in the first place. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the separation of Egyptian groups of goods for wholesale and retail trade while creating favorable conditions for imports. Also, according to her, the demand in Egypt is for canned and dried fruits, confectionery, chocolate, oils, fats, mineral water, as well as crockery, various cutlery, baths, showers, sinks, building materials and other goods for the retail trade.

“I want to draw attention to the fact that all Ukrainian exporters who want to trade with Egypt, must be registered in the general administration to control exports and imports. After that it is possible to establish logistics through rail and road ways, taking into account the temporary inaccessibility of the port of Odessa”, – she explained.

Besides, Yevgeniya Litvinova noticed that since March of the last year, Egypt obliged Ukraine to use the letter of credit for many groups of goods that leads to rise in price of transactions from 0,2 to 0,5%. This factor, according to the expert, will also directly affect trade and its final results.

“If we talk about advice to our small and medium-sized businesses when entering the Egyptian market, first you need to understand what exports are, if you have not previously been involved in this process. Then you should analyze in which cases it is profitable to open a Ukrainian enterprise in Egypt to work, and in which cases you do not always need to do it and not always profitable. Finally, the third tip – go through the registration. At least look at how to pass authorization, registration through a single window in Egypt. I draw your attention to the fact that your brand should be registered at least in Ukraine before you start to pass this registration in Egypt, “- summed up Eugenia.

In turn, the head of the Egyptian diaspora in Ukraine, Dr. Atia Walid noticed that in recent years Egyptian-Ukrainian trade relations have been intensively developed and our country has been invited to participate in major infrastructure projects, which are now being implemented by the Egyptian authorities.

“Back in 2021 Egypt discussed with the Ukrainian government investment in the special economic zone of the Suez Canal. That is, the Egyptian economic policy is primarily aimed at encouraging investment in the country’s economy. Egypt, of course, is interested in cooperation with Ukrainian companies from the point of view of opening joint ventures on its territory, which can well be realized today, despite the war. I think it is quite realistic for Ukrainian companies to open branches there, if they are interested in the sales market. Egypt is ready to facilitate this,” stressed the representative of Egypt.

In his opinion, our suppliers should work more actively both with the Egyptian embassy in Kiev and the Ukrainian embassy in Cairo. This will facilitate the passage of bureaucratic procedures and reduce the likelihood of becoming victims of fraud.

“Ukrainian businessmen should check with the Egyptian embassy or the Chamber of Commerce the authenticity of the documents of those organizations with which they cooperate. And only after that, conclude a contract according to all international rules. You should not believe the promises and pretty eyes, and do not forget the basics of doing business in the field of export-import. I wish all businessmen in Egypt and in Ukraine only success,” said Dr. Atia Walid.

See more details in the video:

You can subscribe to the Club of Experts channel by following the link:

https://www.youtube.com/@user-nz9lh8yg9g

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