'Iran to become a major trade partner of EAEU'

The trade minister of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) says Iran will become a major trade partner of the Russian-led economic bloc.

Andrey Slepnev made the remarks in a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali on Wednesday, as the EAEU and the Islamic Republic are expected to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in St. Petersburg on December 25.

Slepnev described the deal as the most important cooperation document between the EAEU and Iran.

Iran will turn into one of the important partners of the Eurasian Economic Community by signing the free trade agreement, he added.

Jalali, for his part, said the pact is the fruit of intensive negotiations between the parties and their will to develop their relations.

The Iranian ambassador had earlier told IRNA that under the Iran-EAEU free trade agreement, there would be no customs tariffs for the export of about 96 percent of Iranian goods to Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and vice versa.

He noted that the free trade pact will be implemented after its approval at the parliaments of the six countries that are parties to the deal.

The Eurasian Economic Community is a regional trade organization of five post-Soviet nations— Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia—designed to promote the free movement of goods, persons, services, and capital in accordance with the EAEU Treaty. 

Earlier this month, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said the deal “has a significance in the development of … economic ties between Iran and the EAEU countries [and that it] will be important for our bilateral ties.”

SS