The temperature issue is
INTERNAL to the engine. Not external ambient. Your source provided the clue.
"RD-33MK is the first product of major modifications of the basic engine. Its horsepower is 7% higher due to the use of cooled blades made of modern materials including composites."
What is this 'cooled blades'?
A piston driven engine and a turbine engine are internal combustion engines. Both types of engines atomizes the fuel, mix with air, compress the mixture, then ignite the mixture. The controlled explosion is translated into mechanical actions.
The difference between the two is the temperature stability of the components. With the piston engine, temperatures have cycles of peaks and lows as the piston travels up/down. With the turbine engine, the temperature have plateaus. Precisely because of those temperature plateaus that the turbine engine is magnitude more difficult to design, engineer, and manufacture. The formulas for various alloys and assorted minimum or zero metal composites are state secrets.
The Jet Propulsion Static Laboratory (JPSL) transitioned to turbine work as turbine cooling became a priority in the late 1940s and 1950s. Overview By the
www1.grc.nasa.gov
"Air cooling, which diverts excess air flow from the compressor into hollow turbine blades to carry away the heat, is the least expensive type of cooling."
Am not going to research on the method of blade cooling in the RD-33.
Cooling the blades allows the entire turbine unit to run at higher rpm which came from higher fuel/air mixture burn from the compressor stage. The newer RD-33MK somehow cools the blades which resulted in %7 higher thrust.
So if the RD-33 must be stationed at geographies with cooler climate it is because the available thrust matches the fully combat loaded aircraft for X runway length and air density for takeoff. Not because hot ambient air somehow negatively affect the engine itself.
"The warmer the air, the less dense it is. When the temperature rises above the standard temperature for a particular place, the density of the air in that location is reduced, and the density altitude increases. Therefore, it is advisable, when performance is in question, to schedule operations during the cool hours of the day (early morning or late afternoon) when forecast temperatures are not expected to rise above normal. Early morning and late evening are sometimes better for both departure and arrival."
The MIG-29 with the older RD-33 (non MK) can be stationed at hot weather bases but because of the lower rated thrust, the jet will have to fly with lesser combat load. Mission planners needs this knowledge to allocate packages whether it is for air-air or air-ground for various deployments. Air-air package is physically lesser T/O weight than air-ground package.
I could be wrong about the RD-33. But I doubt it.
