The Egyptian government denied the rumors that appeared in the social networks about assigning Suez Canal’s management to a foreign company, the press service of the cabinet of ministers reported this.
"This information does not reflect the reality," - Egypt Independent quoted the government's statement. - "The canal is under Egyptian sovereignty, including the administration and all personnel, and will remain fully state-owned."
According to the Directorate of this strategic waterway of the country, in May the income from the operation of the canal increased by 23.6% compared to the same period last year, and the number of transit ships in May increased by 12%.
The Suez Canal was opened to navigation in 1869 and for a long time was managed by the French and the British sides. In 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced its nationalization, but the former owners, trying to regain control of the canal, unleashed a military campaign, with the participation of Israel, which became known as the "tripartite aggression". The Soviet Union intervened and sided with Cairo. On November 7, 1956, Paris and London declared a cessation of hostilities against Egypt.
The canal carries 12% of the world's cargo traffic and is one of the busiest waterways of the world's oil tanker traffic. Eight percent of ships carrying liquefied natural gas pass through it. All in all, 19,000 ships a year, or more than 50 a day, use the canal. Despite its considerable age, it retains its position as the world's most important waterway, remaining one of the cheapest and safest ways to transport goods in the region, as well as the shortest route from Europe to Asia.
In August 2014, a 72-kilometer-long parallel canal construction project began, providing two-way traffic for ships. The project, which cost Egypt $8.2 billion, was completed a year later - in August 2015 - and has already paid for itself. In three years after the new channel was put into operation, the Egyptian treasury received almost $16 billion from its operation. By 2023, the authorities planned to double the revenues from the use of this hydraulic structure.
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Based on materials from TASS