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Thursday, 22 December 2016

What we’re tracking on 21 December 2016

Egypt is hosting the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) in Cairo today. Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told Al Masry Al Youm the meeting will include some market discussions as well as moving forward with a number of procedural issues.

PM to sign off on pricing agreement between Big Pharma and MoH: Health Minister Ahmed Rady is expected to present to discuss with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail today the Health Ministry’s final agreement to allow pharma manufacturers to raise prices, according to Al Borsa. “Government sources” recommended that Ismail approve the proposal, as long as the new prices don’t come into effect until February 2017, the newspaper reports, which the head of FEI’s pharma division tells Al Mal is the plan anyway. Meanwhile, Al Borsa reports that the House Health Committee is expecting to meet with Rady next week to discuss the pact. The committee has also formed a sub-committee to look into the shortages of medicine in the local market, according to Al Masry Al Youm, and is asking the government to hold off on implementing the price hikes until the sub-committee establishes a tally of the meds in short supply. Meanwhile, the Pharmacists’ Syndicate also said it will reject any agreement on the matter if it is not included in the talks, as we noted yesterday.

Are Russian tourists coming back soon? That seems to be the message backing a report in Russian state-owned news site Sputnik, which notes the highlight of a call yesterday between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, as The leaders noted the progress in joint efforts by Russian and Egyptian experts and security personnel aimed at strengthening flight and airport security, which could expedite the resumption in near future of regular air travel between Moscow and Cairo.” Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov had said in late November that flights could resume before the end of this year. The story is being picked up in the local press, with Al Masry Al Youm’s coverage being typical.

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