TEHRAN- Iran and Russia signed an agreement on the purchase and building of 20 general cargo ships, IRNA reported.

The two sides agreed to establish a joint venture which is to be engage in the purchase and construction of vessels for cargo transportation through international transport corridors North-South and East-West.

During a phone conversation on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Ebrahim Raisi confirmed the intent to expand trade relations and economic cooperation between the countries. Therefore, an agreement on the purchase and construction of 20 vessels was signed.

Russia and Iran earlier announced their readiness to develop cooperation in shipbuilding with Iranian shipyards to build ships of large capacity and Russian shipyards to build cargo carriers. Russia also considers investing in seaports of Iran. The Iranian side, in its turn, offers using its seaports as hubs for Russian cargo including transit one.

North-South international transport corridor (ITC) is a 7,200-kilometre-long transport artery from St. Petersburg to ports in Iran and India. North-South ITC has a western and an eastern branch, both running across Iran. The western one foresees cargo transportation by road via Rasht, the eastern one – by railway. The end point in Iran is the port of Bandar Abbas from which cargo can be delivered to India by sea. The western branch also crosses Azerbaijan, the eastern one – Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Besides, direct water transportation from Russia to Iran by the Caspian Sea is possible.

Iran, Russia sign customs agreement to facilitate trade, transit

The customs of Iran and Russia have signed a new agreement to facilitate trade and develop transit, IRNA reported.

The agreement was signed by Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mohammad Rezvani-Far and Head of the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) Ruslan Davydov in Tehran on Wednesday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rezvani-Far pointed out that the agreement is expected to provide the basis for the development of cooperation and an increase in the volume of trade between the two countries.

Ruslan Davydov, for his part, stressed facilitating and speeding up customs affairs and helping economic operators increase trade volume between the two countries.

He pointed to the green customs route established between the two countries as a way of enhancing the volume of trade between the two countries, adding that the increase in the number of goods exchanged in this corridor, including technological goods will lead to a rise in the volume of trade transactions.

Back in February, delegations from the customs of Iran and Russia exchanged views on ways to develop educational cooperation between the two sides, in a joint meeting in Tehran.

According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, the meeting was held under the framework of a memorandum of understanding signed between the customs of the two countries.

In that meeting, the attendees explored ways of using the educational, scientific, and specialized customs and commercial capacities of the two countries.

Also, in last November, representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration and the Federal Customs Service of Russia met in Tehran to discuss implementing a memorandum of understanding signed between the two bodies for battling smuggling and customs violations.

During the meeting, IRICA Deputy for Legal Affairs Farideh Zobeydi and her Russian counterpart Oleg Gubaydulin discussed ways of cooperation between the two sides regarding how to fight against smuggling and customs violations in line with the memorandum signed in this regard.

Issues related to organized crimes, drugs, money laundering, and smuggling were among the cases discussed in the meeting.

The expansion and strengthening of cooperation in training drug detection dogs, diversification of borders, exchange of risk indicators, and exchange of drug detection experiences were also among the subjects explored in the gathering.

EF/MA