Russia and other countries should hold discussions on possible humanitarian deliveries of wheat to Egypt, the world's largest importer of the grain, as it faces an acute shortage, Russia's deputy agriculture minister said. Egypt has less than two months' supply of imported wheat left in its stocks, ousted President Mohamed Mursi's minister of supplies said last week. "We need to discuss questions related to humanitarian aid deliveries to Egypt with the world community ... There have been no requests (from Egypt) yet," Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilya Shestakov told a news briefing in Moscow on Monday. Shestakov's remark appeared to be a reversal of policy since Russia rejected a request from Mursi in April for help securing supplies of vital commodities on concessionary terms when the former president of Egypt visited Moscow, reuters reported. "If it's for free or long-term financing, definitely Egypt will accept it," a Cairo-based trader said. "Right now economically, with the money from the Gulf, Egypt is in a better position compared with two weeks ago," the trader added. As of last week, Egypt, which usually imports about 10 million tonnes a year, with Russia as a major supplier, had just 500,000 tonnes of imported wheat left. The government's total stocks including wheat from the domestic crop amounted to about 3.5 million tonnes.
