Russian President Vladimir Putin said transactions with Iran during the first five months of 2016 grew by 70% to reach $855 million.
"We intend to continue fostering trade and economic cooperation. During my visit to Tehran on November 23, last year, and my negotiations with Iran’s Leader [Ayatollah Seyyed] Ali Khamenei and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, I found that Iran’s leaders genuinely share this approach," he said in an interview with Azerbaijani state news agency AZERTAC.
The Russian president said large-scale joint projects in the oil and gas sphere, and the aerospace and electric power industries are being developed.
"For instance, Russia intends to grant two state loans to Iran amounting to €2.2 billion to finance the construction of a thermal power plant near the city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf coast and the electrification of the Garmsar-Inche Borun railroad section in the northeast of the country," he said.
Putin also said the establishment of a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran can give a strong impetus to bilateral trade and investment.
"The joint research group, which will study in detail the parameters of a possible agreement, has already begun its work," Putin said, adding that Russia will continue to support Iran's pursuit of full Shanghai Cooperation Organization membership.
EEU is an economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia.
A treaty for the establishment of EEU was signed in May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on January 1, 2015.
The union has an integrated single market of 183 million people and a gross domestic product of over $4 trillion.
EEU calls for the free movement of goods, capital, services and people, and provides for common transport, agriculture and energy policies, with provisions for a single currency and greater integration in future.
