How Egypt-Russia ties continue to evolve against all odds

In February this year, Egypt and Russia celebrated 80 years of bilateral diplomatic relations.

Perhaps the greatest indication, however, that these decades-long ties are expanding to new horizons was the inauguration of the final phase of Egypt's El Dabaa nuclear power plant (NPP) a month earlier.

On 23 January, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin virtually laid the foundation of the fourth power unit at the nuclear plant, developed by the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM).

The long-awaited NPP, located along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, cost $28.75 billion, 85 percent of which was financed by Russia and is to be paid off by Egypt using a 22-year loan with an annual 3% interest rate.

"After Sisi took power to become the de facto leader of Egypt in 2013, he vigorously sought the support of Washington's main rivals, Russia and China"

When interests prevail                            

Experts believe that the nuclear project has further reinforced Russia’s presence in the region, balancing the influence of the United States in the process.

On the first day of 2024, Egypt’s membership in the BRICS economic bloc was officially put into force as Russia assumed leadership of the group, now comprising 10 countries.

By joining BRICS, Egypt was believed to be trying to alleviate the dominance of the US dollar in the North African country’s economy amid an unforgiving financial crisis triggered by internal and external factors, such as currency devaluation and Israel’s war on the neighbouring Palestinian Gaza Strip.

In recent months, there have been attempts to enforce what economists call “de-dollarisation’’ to reduce the dependency on the US dollar in trade, especially since Egypt is a country that relies on importation rather than local production.

Earlier last year, the Russian central bank added the Egyptian pound to the Russian exchange rate. The dominance of the greenback remains in place, though, but its value against the local Egyptian pound has been fluctuating in the parallel, informal market.

A major factor that overshadows Egypt’s relations with Russia is that the North African country is the world’s largest importer of wheat.

Most of the country’s wheat needs over the years have been supplied by Ukraine and Russia. After the war on Ukraine, Egypt depended on Russia and other countries, such as India, to secure its needs for the strategic commodity.

The Nasser model 

Putin was one of the early supporters of his fellow Egyptian autocrat even before Sisi officially became president in 2014, but Cairo-Moscow ties have always been dominated by mutual interests.

Sisi seems to have learned from the best by following in the footsteps of late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser who had sought the help of the then-Soviet Union, led by Russia, in the 1950s and 1960s to back Egypt against US dominance and the country’s war with Israel.

“After Sisi took power to become the de facto leader of Egypt earlier in 2013, he vigorously sought the support of Washington’s main rivals, Russia and China. The US under ex-president Barak Obama had frequently objected to the ouster of Egypt’s first democratically-elected President late Mohamed Morsi,” a prominent Egyptian political analyst told The New Arab.

"Sisi's visit to St Petersburg last year is believed to have further cemented bilateral ties amid global discontent towards Russia following its war on Ukraine"

“The appointment of former Supreme Constitutional Court head Adly Mansour as the interim president following Morsi’s removal was nothing but a charade for Sisi to assume power,” added the analyst, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Egypt has also purchased multibillion-dollar advanced arms from Moscow and Beijing, ignoring repeated US threats. The country’s vital tourism sector also depends on Russian and Ukrainian tourists who flock to Red Sea resorts.

Sisi’s visit to St Petersburg last year is believed to have further cemented bilateral ties amid global discontent towards Russia following its war on Ukraine.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sisi maintained a middle ground in Cairo’s ties with Moscow as he was pressured by world powers to take a decisive stance.

Putin publicly told Sisi during their meeting that Egypt accounted for one-third of Russia’s trade exchange with the African continent as a whole.

“Russia supports Egypt knowing that it’s the most influential Arab country, though not the richest. By doing so, Putin has been gaining influence in the region, competing with its long-time rival, the US, in the process,” a strategic analyst told TNA.

“On the other hand, Sisi resorted to Russia, probably as Plan B, after antagonising the US over the coup against Morsi. At the end of the day, Egypt owns the strongest army in Africa and the Arab World,” the analyst added on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of their post.

In 2023, the Egyptian army was ranked 15th out of 145, while Saudi Arabia is ranked the second most powerful Arab military. 

In April last year, The Washington Post reported that a leaked US security report suggested that Egypt had reportedly intended to produce 40,000 rockets for the heavily sanctioned Russia and instructed officials to keep it a secret to "avoid problems with the West," allegations officially denied by Egypt.

The authenticity of the leaked document has not been officially verified.

“Such a leak, regardless of its authenticity, sheds light on the possible Egypt-Russia ties behind the scenes,” the strategist concluded.   

Nabila El-Gaafary is a Cairo-based Journalist reporting for The New Arab