Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture is scheduled to host a 120-strong business delegation from Russia on Nov. 15.
In addition to Tehran, the delegation is due to visit the cities of Rasht, Anzali and Isfahan.
The visitors will represent a wide range of sectors, including transportation, food, construction materials, petrochemicals and oil products.
According to ICCIMA, the Russian side has expressed interest in importing food (dried fruit, fish feed, shrimp, etc.), petrochemical products (such as polystyrene), construction materials (tiles, cement, stone, etc.), medicine (antibiotics, vitamins, steroids, bandages, etc.), dairy products (such as cream), machine-made carpets, plastic products (foil sheet, polymer tape, polyester, resin, plastic- and water-based colors), medical equipment, and industrial machinery from Iran.
In return, the Russian side has expressed readiness to export chemicals, grains, edible oil and wood to Iran.
Iran Chamber of Commerce plans to host a gathering of government officials and businesspeople of the two countries at the Iran-Russia Business Conference at Tehran’s Espinas Palace Hotel on Nov. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A series of B2B will also be organized on the sidelines of the conference.
Upshot of Sanctions
Sanctions have drawn the economies of Iran and Russia closer, leading to a flurry of visits by officials and business representatives of the two sides.
Grozny, the capital city of Chechnya in Russia, hosted the 16th round of Iran-Russia Economic Cooperation Commission earlier in November where a wide range of areas, including transportation, energy and trade, were the topic of discussion.
Iran’s Trade Center in Moscow was inaugurated in September in the presence of Iranian and Russian officials and businesspeople.
“The Russian market is a desirable destination for Iranian goods ranging from petrochemical products and minerals to agricultural products, foodstuff, construction materials, apparel, iron and steel, and industrial machinery,” Bahman Abdollahi, the head of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, was as saying quoted by ILNA on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony.
Abdollahi noted that the trade center will help introduce Iranian goods and services in the Russian market.
Alireza Peymanpak, the head of Iran Trade Promotion Organization who was also present at the event, said among the main tasks of the trade center is to coordinate joint events and exhibitions, and plan visits by trade and business delegations and link Iranian businesspeople to their Russian counterparts.
Concurrent with the opening of the trade center in Moscow, an exclusive Iranian exhibition was inaugurated on Sept. 7 at the Crocus Expo exhibition complex of the Russian capital in the presence of Iranian officials and businesspeople and their Russian counterparts, IRNA reported.
Representatives of more than 50 Iranian companies showcased their goods and services at the event.
Crocus Expo is among the top 15 exhibition centers in the world and among the top 10 in Europe. It is the biggest in Eastern Europe.
The Iranian event, held by Iran Cooperatives Chamber and licensed by the Trade Promotion Organization, wrapped up on Sept. 10.
“Attempts at sanctions pressure, threats and blackmail can lead to the opposite effect as evidenced by the growth in trade between Russia and Iran in 2021 by more than 70%,” Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said on Wednesday.
"The Iranian example brilliantly illustrates that no attempt to subject the country to sanctions, extortion, pressure, or threats ever results in the desired outcome for those involved. Furthermore, the effect can be exactly the opposite. In this case, I'm talking about our bilateral relations between Russia and Iran, which show the ever-increasing positive dynamics. Looking at the statistics, our trade turnover increased by more than 70% last year. This figure does not need additional comments. The dynamics continue this year," he said at a meeting with an Iranian parliamentary delegation, TASS reported.
Kosachev clarified that it includes not only purchase and sale transactions, but also large-scale investment cooperation.
According to the deputy speaker, there is also an extensive agenda for cooperation on major international issues.
"Among the first, I would like to mention the Syrian issue. And given today's sixth Caspian summit, I can't help but return to the subject of our collaboration in the Caspian region," he said.
Mutual Interest in Cooperation
Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly pushed the International North-South Transportation Corridor as the key connectivity link between Russia and India via Iran by describing it as a truly ambitious project, notwithstanding China hard pressing BRI as a mega connectivity initiative in the Eurasian region, Indian business daily The Economic Times reported.
Addressing the Sixth Caspian Sea Summit in the presence of leaders from Central Asia and Iran, Putin made special reference to INSTC that connects India with Russia within the shortest possible time. He described the project, which is 7,200 kilometers long, as a “transport artery from St. Petersburg to ports in Iran and India”.
INSTC aims to connect Caspian Sea countries, including Kazakhstan.
“Iran is increasing its purchases of Russian grains to become the largest importer from the federation in the world,” Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said recently.
“We provide [our people] with Russian grains; this wasn’t the case in the past. Since 2021, the process of grain acquisitions is changing inside Iran. Last year, I believe, we were in second place in our purchases from Russia. Next year we will, I think, be number one,” the diplomat said at the 'Made in Russia' forum on Friday, Tasnim News Agency reported.
Iran imported 3.7 million tons of grains in the agricultural year from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, according to analytical company Prozerno.
"For the first three months of the new season 2021-22, exports to Iran from Russia amounted to 3.697 million tons of grain, including 3.091 million tons of wheat, 392,600 tons of barley, 215,300 tons of corn,” it said.
According to the data released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, in 2021, Russia exported $1.7 billion worth of goods to Iran to account for 3.1% in Iran’s total imports.
In return, Russia imported around $1.1 billion worth of goods from Iran, accounting for 1.2% of Iran’s total exports last year.
Russia’s 2021 export to Iran increased by 56% and Russia’s import from Iran rose by 15% in comparison with 2020.
About 66% of Russia’s total export value to Iran were cereals, mainly wheat.
The main product exported to Russia from Iran were pistachio, with a share of 9.1% from total exports.
Removing Barriers to Developing Bilateral Trade
Iran and Russia have agreed to sign a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union in the near future, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
“We have also agreed to remove all barriers that exist today on the way of developing bilateral trade. And we are talking about reducing barriers at the borders with third countries. We have agreed to conclude an agreement on a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union in the near future,” Novak said during a press conference, following the meeting of the Iran-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Additionally, Novak said Iran and Russia saw potential for working together on projects, particularly in the fields of car and aircraft manufacture.
“Russia and Iran see opportunities for joint projects in the fields of shipbuilding, automobile and aviation manufacture. There are already joint projects and agreements between Russian and Iranian companies on organizing joint ventures and supplying relevant components,” he said.
The Russian deputy prime minister noted that the two nations are exchanging energy resource supplies, particularly petroleum items, and that they have also decided to broaden the range of trade in goods.
In October, Novak stated that Iran and Russia were coordinating the specifics of oil-gas swap. He anticipated that the swap agreement, which could initially cover 5 million tons of oil and up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually, would be signed by the end of 2022, Eurasia Review reported.
“Our deliveries of petroleum products have already begun. We have agreed to expand the range of relevant products. This is also a promising area of joint cooperation,” Novak told reporters.
During a meeting of the Iran-Russia intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, Novak said, “Trade turnover between Russia and Iran increased by 36.4% to $3.3 billion in eight months.
According to the results of eight months of this year, trade turnover [between Iran and Russia] increased by 36.4% and amounted to $3.3 billion.”
The Russian deputy prime minister said he believes trade turnover will soon amount to $4 billion, as it is growing at a record pace.
Spokesman of Iran's Foreign Ministry Nasser Kanani said Iran and Russia have made good progress in launching a bilateral financial system.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, Kanani noted that the two countries have progressed in bilateral agreement to use a payment network in the banking system of both countries, IRNA reported.
“The remaining small issues and technical problems are being resolved by the two sides,” he said, referring to efforts for setting up an alternative for SWIFT and removing the US dollar from Iran-Russia transactions.
