By Sarah El Safty and Michael HoganOne of the world's biggest importers of wheat, Egypt last year started shifting towards direct purchases instead of tenders after the war in Ukraine disrupted its buying. The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) bought about 480,000 metric tons of Russian wheat from trading firm Solaris on Friday, at a price of about $270 a ton on a cost and freight basis (C&F), the traders said. The government had recently signed a $500 million loan agreement with the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (ADEX) to buy imported wheat from UAE-based agribusiness Al Dahra