Iran, Russia to Discuss Trade, Economic Cooperation in Sochi

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting on the sidelines of the Astana trio’s summit on Syria to discuss trade and economic cooperation, Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan said in an interview with TASS.

"The summit of Astana trio [Russia, Iran and Turkey] will take place in Sochi on February 14. A meeting between our countries’ presidents is planned to be arranged on the sidelines of the summit and we expect that trade and economic cooperation will be discussed among other issues," the ambassador said.

Dzhagaryan said that Moscow and Tehran have given up the US dollar in settlement payments and plan to shift to national currencies to the full, with euro to be used if absolutely necessary.

"Fundamentally, we have already given up the dollar in cooperation with Iran. Let us rely on the Russian ruble and the Iranian rial, and on the euro if absolutely necessary, if there are no other options," he said.

The first meeting of the Astana trio was held in Sochi on Nov. 22, 2017. The second summit took place in the Turkish capital of Ankara on April 4, 2018. The three leaders adopted a joint statement following the meeting, expressing their determination to continue their cooperation. The third Russian-Turkish-Iranian summit on resolving the Syria issue was held in Tehran on Sept. 7, 2018.

According to earlier reports, the three leaders will discuss the situation in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone and US plans to withdraw troops from Syria at the Sochi meeting.

Latest data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show Iran traded 1.62 million tons of non-oil commodities worth $1.13 billion with Russia during the nine months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Dec. 21), registering a 23.29% and 65.29% growth in tonnage and value respectively compared with last year's corresponding period.

Russia was Iran’s 10th trading partner in the world.

Iran’s exports to Russia stood at 326.72 million tons worth $193.39 million, up 0.39% and 9.04% in tonnage and value respectively year-on-year.

Russia was Iran’s 21st export destination during the period.

Iran mainly exported kiwi, apple, pistachio, tomato and grape to Russia during the nine-month period.

In return, Russia exported 1.3 million tons of goods worth $942.98 million to Iran, up 31.83% and 74.31% in tonnage and value respectively YOY.

Russia was the eighth exporter of goods to Iran during the period.

The imports mainly included nuclear reactor parts, field corn, barley and sunflower oilseeds.

source: Financial Tribune