Putin floats idea of 'grain and energy hub' in Egypt

Egypt signals openness as Russia seeks new export routes amid Western sanctions

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia and Egypt could discuss plans to create a "grain and energy hub" in the North African country.

Putin raised the idea at a meeting in the Kremlin with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, saying that there were "many interesting ideas" to discuss.

Abdelatty, speaking through an interpreter, said Egypt welcomed the Russian initiatives.

In the televised part of their meeting, neither elaborated on what the "hub" proposal would involve.

Russia has been seeking new ways of distributing its energy and commodities exports in response to waves of Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Egypt plays an increasingly important role in handling Russian commodities and could serve as a logistics and storage point for supplies heading to Africa and the Middle East. Separate discussions at a business level have also taken place about the possible creation of a grain hub in Oman.

Putin has previously talked up the idea of creating a "gas hub" in Turkey, but there has been little tangible progress.

Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer, and the biggest buyer of Russian wheat. According to estimates from rail carrier Rusagrotrans, it has bought about 7.6 million tons of Russian grain so far this season, around the same level as last year.

Putin said he had ordered the Russian government to work with Egypt on issues around supplying food, mainly grain. He added that Russia, thanks to a good harvest last year, would have no problems in delivering.

Egypt is also among the main importers of Russian gasoline and could be hit by Moscow's decision on Thursday to ban producers from exporting gasoline until the end of July to keep the domestic market supply steady.