Russia is ready to set up a “green corridor” to trade agricultural products with Iran, Russian minister of agriculture said.
Alexander Nikolayevich Tkachyov made the statement after meeting with Iran’s Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati in Tehran on Tuesday.
“We need to establish modern logistics on the way of Iranian goods to Russia, create a ‘green corridor’ on the Russian border for Iranian goods and ease customs formalities to speed up clearance of Iranian cargoes,” Russian news agency Tass quoted Tkachyov as saying.
“We have inspected Iranian dairy companies. They will start exporting their products to Russia in the nearest future.”
The Russian minister also touched on its ban on food imports from Turkey following Ankara’s downing of a Russian warplane on the Syrian border late November.
“Annual imports of 1.5 million tons of vegetables from Turkey were enough to meet Russia’s need for greens. Now, Iran can supply a part of Russia’s vegetables by doubling its production. Russia would also export oilseeds, wood, meat and grains to Iran,” he said.
The Iranian minister said there is potential for the two neighboring countries becoming active trade partners, “however infrastructures needed for commercial interactions, including air and sea transport, are currently not satisfactory”.
Hojjati viewed political relations between Tehran and Moscow as cordial and hoped to see further improvement of economic ties as well.
“The Iranian government is determined to have long-term, sustainable cooperation with Russia but reaching agreements on imports and exports of goods, including dairy products, meat and chicken, is a time-consuming process,” he said.
“As we speak, the products of 19 fisheries companies, four Iranian milk processing factories and two poultry producers have successfully passed veterinary tests in the Russian Federation and received the requisite licenses. Also, a Russian livestock producer has been given the go-ahead to export its products to Iran.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance announced that it has issued permission for the export of milk and dairy products by the following companies: Fars Pegah Pasteurized Milk, Golpayegan Pegah Dairy, Kalleh Dairy Company and Tehran Pegah Pasteurized Milk.
These companies produce a wide range of dairy products, including milk, cream, yogurt and different types of cheese.
Iran annually earns about $700 million from dairy export. Should Iranian milk become popular in Russia, this figure may exceed $1 billion. Exports of Iranian dairy products to Russia were due to start on January 20.
Russia’s Trading House in Iran
According to Export Projects Support Director of the Russian Export Center Konstantin Evstyukhin, one of the first overseas trading houses of Russia will be set up in Iran now that western sanctions are removed.
“We plan to open a trading house in Iran for promotion of Russian exports,” he said.
The Russian Export Center initiated the launch of trading houses abroad in cooperation with the Russian Ministry of Economic Development from December 2015.
The Ministry of Economic Development selected 10 countries where Russian Export Center offices will be set up based on trade representations, Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said earlier.
Trading houses will provide services for Russian exporters in the field of logistics, provision of warehouse and office areas, arrangement of exhibitions and negotiations and legal support.
“The center is already working on seven projects amounting to over 90 billion rubles ($1.1 billion),” Ulyukayev said.
