Iran Expects Green Light on Meat, Dairy Exports to Russia by End of March

MOSCOW, January 27 (Sputnik) – Iran expects that its producers will get approval to export dairy and meat products to Russia by March of this year, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei told RIA Novosti in an inteview Tuesday.

“The first delivery of shrimp and trout to Russia was announced this week. All that remains is that companies that produce dairy and meat products also receive approval on the export of their goods to Russia,” Sanaei said.

“I hope that this happens because it’s very important. We were promised that this would be resolved in the first quarter [of this year] by the end of March,” the ambassador added.

Sanaei noted that despite high tariffs on exports of Iranian goods to Russia currently in place, he expects Tehran to sign an export agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union this year.

Russia's state agricultural watchdog announced in late December that national currencies may be used for agricultural trade settlements between Moscow and Tehran. Earlier on Tuesday, the ambassador confirmed plans to create a joint account to facilitate trade between the two countries by using their national currencies.

Two weeks ago, head of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce confirmed the start of fish exports to Russia, with dairy and livestock products expected to follow within 10 days.

In August 2014, Moscow imposed a one-year ban on meat, dairy, seafood and other imports from the United States, the European Union and certain countries in response to their sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and military. Since then, Russia vowed to pursue the course of import substitution in a number of fields, including its space and defense industries.

The 2010 UN sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program prohibited arms deals between Russia and Iran, however Moscow and Tehran have continued to cooperate in the fields of energy, industry, transport and agriculture.