Large Russian Mission Arrives for Joint Economic Commission

A 590-strong delegation from Russia arrives in Tehran today to take part in the 13th session of Iran-Russia Economic Commission on December 13, co-chaired by Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

The two sides will survey ways of expanding bilateral ties in a variety of fields, including energy and telecommunications, IRNA reported.

As per the schedule, Novak and the Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei will be signing an agreement on the construction of four thermal power plants in Bandar Abbas in Iran’s southern Hormozgan Province, in which the Russian party is to invest close to €1.29 billion.

Agreements in the fields of standardization, estimation of goods and cooperation of companies in the private sector will be signed between the two countries.

The previous meeting of the joint commission was held on November 12, 2015, in Moscow where agreements on energy, maritime and banking cooperation were signed.

Some 280 Russian organizations and companies, as well as 60 representatives from Iran’s public and private sectors held meetings on the sidelines of the joint commission from November 10 to 12, 2015.

According to Vaezi, the two sides have vowed to raise bilateral trade to an ambitious rate of $40 billion per year based on a roadmap unveiled on the final day.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration’s data on Iran-Russia non-oil trade during 2005-15 show mutual commerce peaked in the Iranian year to March 2009. The figure started a downtrend for two consecutive years after the European Union and the US intensified sanctions on Iran in 2010.

Despite a rebound in trade during the Iranian year to March 2014, the figure declined during President Hassan Rouhani’s administration. 

IRICA’s latest statistics show bilateral non-oil trade registered a 50% rise during the seven months to October 21, owing to increased imports from Russia.

Iran exported 150,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $86.5 million to Russia during the seven-month period, registering a 6% decline in value compared with the similar period of a year before.

Food supplement, fruit and vegetable, raisins, dates, tomato paste, pistachio, carpets, petrochemicals and cement were among the main exported commodities. About 890,000 tons of goods worth $1.1 billion were imported from the Caspian neighbor, recording a rise of 235% in value year-on-year. The main imports included electronic devices, grain, corn fodder, wood, paper and vehicles.