EEU to Hold Expert Talks on Iran FTZ

Members of the Eurasian Economic Union will hold expert-level talks on creating a free trade zone with Iran at the end of June, Russia’s first deputy economic development minister said. “The talks are scheduled for late June. These will be consultations at the level of experts from EEU countries,” Alexei Likhachev also told TASS on Thursday. He added that the talks will focus on approaches aimed at forming a free trade zone with Iran.  “Since Iran is not a WTO member and there are specific national trade control measures, it is necessary to understand how we can adapt our interests to these rules,” Likhachev said. Informal consultations on a temporary free trade zone between the EEU and Iran began in mid-May.  The first international document on a free trade zone between the EEU and a third party was an agreement with Vietnam signed in May 2015. The EEU was set up on the basis of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan joined the organization in 2015.