Tehran, YJC. It is said that the country’s trade volume will jump from $1.5 billion to 15.
Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh speaking at a conference
with tradesmen from Iran and Russia said "Right now the two countries’ trade
volume is around $1.5 billion, which is not anything acceptable.”
"The 11th administration stresses strategic and
economic relations with Russia,” he asserted, adding, "With agreements that
have been made in the past few months, we are to expect a leap in the two
countries’ economic and trade relations. With the emphases made by Hassan Rouhani
and Vladimir Putin, it is expected that the two countries’ trade volume will
increase to $15 billion a year.”
The Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak who was also
attending the conference said that Iran and Russia have the ability to
establish bilateral, and even multilateral, relations with other regional
countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.
He urged more comprehensive cooperation in oil industry,
electricity, nuclear energy, aviation, metallurgy, transportation, and
telecommunication.
He noted that in the previous years, Western sanctions on Iran
prevented the increase of trade between the two countries to a possible $10
billion annual volume.
Novak stated that new policies to facilitate banking
transactions and currency transfer will expedite trade between the two countries.