MOSCOW, November 18. /TASS/. Russia eagerly awaits Egypt's ratification of an intergovernmental agreement on creating a Russian industrial zone around the Suez Canal, Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov told reporters.

"We are waiting for Egypt to ratify the agreement. President [of Egypt Abdel Fattah] el-Sisi said at the meeting in Kazan that this issue would be reviewed at the parliament’s session soon," the minister said.

The intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Egypt was signed in 2018. The project is stipulated to last thirteen years. Construction of the industrial zone was set to start in 2020 but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.