TEHRAN - Tariffs on different goods being traded between Iran and the Russian Federation are going to become zero by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (late March 2024), an official with the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce said.

Kambiz Mirkarimi said trade with national currencies, free trade and the opening of new border customs with Russia, Armenia, and Belarus will also be implemented soon, IRNA reported.

“Considering the development of economic relations between Iran and the members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the problems of economic operators in various areas including customs, tariffs, and competitive market will be resolved by the end of the year,” Mirkarimi said.

Referring to the jump in exports with the development of transportation infrastructure, the official said: “Software infrastructure in the field of free trade agreements with the EAEU countries is being implemented seriously and quickly. In this regard, very good negotiators were made between Iran and Russia, and some memorandums were signed which will be implemented after finalization and being approved by the parliaments of EAEU countries and Iran.”

Mirkarimi expressed hope that by encouraging companies to enter the markets of Russia and Belarus in the absence of big brands, Iranian companies can develop exports and stabilize the country’s position in the Eurasian markets.

Iran and Russia have been taking serious steps for boosting their mutual trade over the past few years.

In late January, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the Islamic Republic and Russia have reached an agreement to boost the trade between the two countries up to $10 billion.

“We agreed to remove trade barriers and boost the economic exchanges between the two countries. Currently, the level of mutual trade is not acceptable, so the two countries agreed to increase trade to $10 billion a year,” Raisi said on January 21, upon arrival to Tehran after a two-day visit to Moscow.

As major players in the world and West Asia’s political and economic scene, Iran and Russia have been expanding political and economic ties for many years, however, the relations between the two countries have entered a whole new level over the past few months.

The imposition of sanctions on both countries has been a major factor in bringing the two sides closer together, making them a strong alliance against U.S. pressures. Over the past few months, senior officials from the two sides have been meeting and visiting each other to consolidate bilateral cooperation in various fields, including energy, oil, gas, and transit, as well as diplomatic and political relations.

As the most significant event among the mentioned exchanges, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran on July 19 to attend the 7th Summit of the Guarantor States of the Astana Process.

During his visit to Tehran Putin met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Raisi and exchanged views on the recent development in the world and in the relations between the two countries.

In these meetings, the two sides reached new agreements and stressed the need for taking the necessary measures for broadening political and economic ties between the two countries in order to nullify the impacts of the U.S. sanctions.

Among other issues, Tehran and Moscow have been negotiating a free trade agreement to ensure acceleration in the economic relations between the two countries.

Last week, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) and Moscow Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to cooperate in various areas.

The MOU was signed by the TCCIMA Deputy Head Mehdi Sadeghi Niaraki and the head of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce in the presence of Governor of Tehran Province Alireza Fakhari, on the sidelines of the 4th Made in Russia International Export Forum and exhibition in Moscow.

According to Niaraki the MOU is aimed to develop cooperation in the field of information exchange, exchanging delegations, introducing capacities, and holding joint conferences and exhibitions.

A delegation of Iranian economic operators, headed by Fakhari traveled to Mosco to attend the Made in Russia Exhibition.

In a meeting between the board members of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce and Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexey Dedov in Tehran in early July, the two sides explored ways of facilitating mutual business exchanges.

During the meeting which was held at the place of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), the board members of the Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce called on the Russian side to ease the conditions for issuing business visas for Iranian traders and to make the process of issuing certificates of origin online.

Speaking at the meeting, Hadi Tizhoush-Taban, the head of the Iran-Russia joint chamber of commerce, emphasized using the capacity of the Iranian Trade Center in Astrakhan and referred to it as a suitable platform to establish communication between interested Iranian and Russian business units to cooperate with each other.

He underlined the need for facilitating the process of issuing visas for Iranian businessmen by the Russian government, saying: “It is necessary to provide conditions so that the businessmen and economic operators of both sides can benefit from the two countries' trade capacities.”

Elsewhere in the gathering, Deputy Head of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce Abdollah Mohajer pointed to the good political relations between the two countries and said: “Despite the strong political relations between the two countries, we have not been able to use the capacities in the economic sector and strengthen the level of relations in line with the political ties.”

He further informed about the interest in the northern provinces of Iran to increase the level of business relations with different cities of Russia and said: “Russian ambassador, as a representative of the government of this country, can take serious steps in order to improve business relations and joint investment.”

Dedov for his part talked about the efforts that are being made by the Russian government to remove the obstacles facing the commercial relations between the two countries and expressed hope that continuous meetings should be held to achieve this goal.

Also, in late May, the former Head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie called for the development of infrastructure along with the strengthening of the trade between Iran and Russia, the ICCIMA portal reported.

“Arrangements should be made for the development of the transportation and customs infrastructures in line with the development of the two countries' trade ties,” Shafeie said in an Iran-Russia Specialized business forum held on the sidelines of the "Russia - Islamic World: Kazan Forum 2023" in Russia.

“The relations between Iran and the Russian Federation, especially in the commercial and economic fields, have a positive and growing perspective, and good developments are expected for the future of these relations,” Shafeie said.

Referring to the capacities of developing economic relations with Iran, the official emphasized: “Iran has great potentials like the oil reserves of Saudi Arabia, the gas reserves of Russia, and the mineral reserves of Australia, and this is a great blessing that can be the basis and justification for the development of relations with any country.”

EF/MA