On Monday, Russia’s TASS news agency stated that Iran, Russia, and many Eurasian countries from Eastern Europe to Western China could reach a free trade zone agreement by year’s end.
In an interview with TASS, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said talks between the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia) and Iran are nearing completion.
“We are moving forward,” Overchuk added. “We very much hope that such an agreement can be signed by the end of the year.”
After Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine hampered Russia’s global trade routes and drove it to seek markets outside Europe, the region and Iran became more important to the Kremlin.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and began buying Iranian-made drones to strike the country, trade between Moscow and Tehran has expanded only minimally.
According to government figures, Russian-Iranian commodities trade climbed 20% in 2022, two-thirds of China’s growth pace.
The regional agreement with Iran would replace and increase a temporary customs duty decrease on hundreds of commodities.
In November 2022, Russia began swapping oil products with Iran. Tehran expects “huge volumes” of oil and gas swaps in March with Moscow.
Overchuk told TASS that Eurasian Economic Union countries are negotiating a common gas market.
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