TEHRAN- The trade turnover between Russia and Iran is likely to reach record-breaking $4 billion as of 2021 year-end, Russian Trade Representative in Iran Rustam Zhiganshin told TASS on Friday.

"The turnover surged by 89.4 percent during the first eleven months against the like period of the last year and stood at $3.76 billion. Grounds are in place to expect we will reach the record-high figure of $4 billion as of 2021 year-end," the trade representative said.

"Agricultural produce account for about 80 percent in the trade turnover between the countries," Zhiganshin said. "Grains and oil-bearing crops moved up in our export in the first instance," he said. "Export of vaccines can be noted among new positions - our relevant supplies to Iran totaled $45 million," he said.

"Implementation of certain projects in the energy sphere is underway, which became more active in 2021. This backed the turnover growth over the last year," Zhiganshin noted. "Vegetables, fruits, dried fruits and nuts are imported from Iran in the first instance," he said.

Also, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced last week that the value of trade between Iran and Russia rose 41 percent in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21, 2021), as compared to the same period of time in the past year.

Head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Alireza Peyman Pak has stressed the need for establishing export consortia between Iran and Russia for accelerating mutual trade under the framework of the agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Peyman Pak made the remarks in a meeting with the Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan Back in November 2021.

In this meeting, major Russian companies were introduced to the Iranian side to cooperate in various sectors including production, trade, and export, while the issue of extraterrestrial cultivation and establishing joint plants for food processing were also discussed.

The need for cooperation between the two countries to facilitate the transit of goods and the removal of customs barriers by the Russian side as well as facilitating the issuance of visas to traders and drivers were also among the issues discussed in the meeting.