Egypt imported $481 million of oil and gas products from Russia in the first six months of 2018, an 84% increase from the same period in 2017, Daily News Egypt reported quoting the Russian Head of Trade Representation in Egypt, Nikolai Aslanov.

Aslanov, who based his announcements on statistics by the Russian Federal Customs Service, added that oil and gas represented 17% of total Russian exports to Egypt. He added that Russia had invested $4.6 billion in Egypt’s petroleum sector by the end of 2017, accounting for 60% of total Russian investment in Egypt.

Egypt’s trade exchange with Russia increased to $3.2 billion in the first half of 2018, a 37% rise from the same period of 2017, Aslanov added.

Russian exports increased by 42% to $2.8 billion in the same period, while exports from Egypt increased by 12% to reach $402 million, he added.