Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk says Iran and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) are expected to sign a free trade zone agreement by the end of the year.
In an interview with Russia’s TASS news agency on Monday, Overchuk reported “progress” in talks between Iran and the EAEU, which also include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, saying they are in their final stages.
“We very much hope that such an agreement can be signed by the end of the year.”
The agreement would replace and expand an interim accord that already provides a reduction in customs duties on hundreds of categories of goods.
Russia has sought to deepen its economic and trade ties with Iran since February 2022 when it came under an inclusive regime of Western sanctions because of the war in Ukraine.
Iran and Russia have signed major deals in recent months to expand their cooperation in areas of energy and manufacturing as the two countries aim to unite in their efforts to offset the impacts of foreign sanctions on their economies.
Overchuk also said that negotiations are underway between the EAEU and several more states on a number of free trade zone agreements.
“[We are in talks with] Egypt, India, Indonesia, and the UAE. All these countries are friendly to us, they are growing markets, so respectively the economic center of the new multipolar world is moving in their direction,” Overchuk said.
He added that such negotiations are “very difficult, and they take years.”
“Negotiators need to take into account a lot of different interests. In our case, the interests of all five EAEU member states, their businesses and consumers are involved here. All this should be taken into account by our negotiators. This is a complex process,” the Russian official said.