Egypt terminates exploration agreement with Russian company

The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority has cancelled a mineral exploration agreement with Russia’s XMW Company, Mos’ad Hashem, the Chairman of the authority told Anadolu news agency on Monday.

The agreement was signed in 2007 for the Russian company to explore the Fawakheer area of the Red Sea coast for gold deposits. “The company did not commit to the conditions of the agreement signed with the Egyptian government,” Hashem said. He pointed out that the Russians applied for guarantee letters without the agreed-upon $5m advance bank deposit. “That is what pushed the authority to cancel the agreement,” he added.

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Since the ultimate termination of the agreement needs a legal frame of reference, Mr. Hashem revealed that Egypt’s Consultation Council is drafting a law to legalise it. He also said that the authority is preparing to sue XMW in the international courts.