Romania, Serbia to Export Wheat to Egypt

Egypt has entered an agreement with Serbia and Romania to import wheat through the port of Constanta, Romania, as of 8 February. Furthermore, Egypt is in talks with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance the development of a large field silo in Damietta port.

The announcement came after a meeting held in Cairo, which saw the attendance of Egyptian Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhy, and a delegation from Serbia helmed by former Serbian President, Boris Tadic.

According to the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, Moselhy and Tadic discussed importing approximately 1 million tonnes of Serbian wheat to ports in Alexandria and Damietta. In addition to wheat imports, these talks also included the potential of supplying Egypt’s corn and poultry needs, and the symbiotic relation between the two.

This agreement comes after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited Serbia in July 2022, and Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca’s visit to Cairo on 4 February 2023.

“[Romania] will exert our utmost efforts to avoid a food crisis, and we will seize every opportunity to secure all Egyptian needs and make up for any shortages,” said the Romanian premier in a press-briefing on Monday, 6 February.

Egypt has been attempting to diversify its sources of wheat, in light of the recent outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Prior to the conflict, around 80 percent of Egyptian wheat had come from both Russia and Ukraine; as such, Egypt will need to import five million tonnes of wheat in order to meet demand.