BISHKEK (TCA) — Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a draft agreement on establishing a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Russia’s Tass news agency reported on April 24.
“The agreement provides for the formation of a free trade area on a limited range of goods between the EEU and Iran,” the agency cited a statement on the Russian Government’s website.
The draft agreement is intended for a period of four years, under which “the EEU will grant Iran tariff concessions on 502 harmonized commodity codes”, the statement said.
The Eurasian Economic Union includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia.
According to the Russian Government statement, the draft agreement was prepared to fulfill the decision of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of December 26, 2016.
The draft demanded that the EEU countries start talks with Iran “on concluding an interim agreement leading to the formation of a free trade area”.
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier this month that the agreement was set to be signed by the two sides within months.
“The talks on drafting a temporary agreement on the creation of an EEU-Iran free trade zone have been finalized. The plan is to sign it within months,” Tass quoted him as saying.
Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei also said talks on the free trade zone agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran were close to completion, Iran’s PressTV reported.
Iran and Russia have been exploring various avenues to deepen trade ties as a buffer against unilateral US sanctions against both countries.
Tehran and Moscow are currently in talks to sign an agreement on using local currencies in trade instead of the US dollar and the euro.
