Iran could soon join Russia-led free trade zone.

[Blackmoon]

The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) could welcome Iran as a new member in May, according to Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak.
“The move to enter into a temporary agreement making for a free trade zone to be set up between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union, which is currently at an advanced stage, will obviously trigger further development of our bilateral trade and expansion of investment cooperation,” said Novak, who is also co-head of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission.

Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei told TASS earlier that work on a free-trade zone agreement between the sides that started in 2015 was close to completion.

A trade bloc established in 2015, the EEU is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2016, Vietnam officially became the first non-regional country to join the bloc. The union is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers between member countries.

More than 40 countries and international organizations, including China, Indonesia and Israel, as well as some South American countries, have expressed interest in a free trade deal with the EEU. The trade bloc has also held negotiations with South Korea, Egypt and India.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Serbia could be also included in the EEU’s free trade zone in the future.

https://www.rt.com/business/420914-russia-iran-trade-zone/

 

[SubWater]

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Serbia could be also included in the EEU’s free trade zone in the future.

That is good move BUT we must enter carefully to cover possible damages and maximize benefits
relate news

Iran, Serbia resume direct flights after 27 years
Sat Mar 10, 2018 05:52PM

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Iran and Serbia have resumed direct flights after a halt of almost 27 years.


Iran and Serbia resumed direct flights on Saturday after a hiatus of almost 27 years.

The air route between the two countries was re-established after a plane of Iran’s national flag-carrier airline Iran Air touched down at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport.

Iran Air is offering a direct service between Tehran and Belgrade twice weekly, with all flights fully booked until the end of the summer, according to reports by Serbia’s domestic media.

A second Iranian carrier, Qeshm Air, is also planning to launch a service between the two capitals starting from March 19.

This past December, Iran and Serbia agreed to revive the direct air flight route between the two countries. This came in light of several key trade deals the two countries signed during a visit to Belgrade by Mojtaba Khosrotaj, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.

Khosrotaj was quoted by media as saying during the visit that the recent measures taken by the Serbian government – particularly the removal of visa restrictions for Iranian nationals travelling to the country – would help boost mutual trade.

In 2017, the government of Serbia announced that in order to improve bilateral relations as well as to attract tourists and investors to Serbia, it had passed a legislation to abolish visa requirements for citizens of Iran and India intending to travel to the country.

The level of trade between Iran and Serbia stands at $20 million.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in February visited Belgrade to explore the avenues for expanding economic relations between the two countries.

In a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, Zarif named oil, gas, petrochemicals, mines, agriculture and IT as some areas appropriate for expansion of ties between the two countries.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/03/10/555017/Iran-Serbia-resume-direct-flights-after-27-years

 

[TheMightyBender]

Iran should be careful about joining this bloc

 

[SubWater]

Russian PM signs draft deal on Eurasia-Iran free trade
Tue Apr 24, 2018 10:33AM

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2. Iran
3. Economy

The Eurasian Economic Union includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.


Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a draft agreement to establish a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries, Tass news agency reported Tuesday.

"The agreement provides for the formation of a free trade area on a limited range of goods between the EAEU and Iran,” it cited a statement on the government website as saying.

The draft agreement is intended for a period of four years, under which “the EAEU will grant Iran tariff concessions on 502 harmonized commodity codes", the statement said.

The Eurasian Economic Union includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Iran and EAEU members started to develop the agreement on the free trade in 2015, though the signing has been postponed several times.

According to the Russian government statement on Tuesday, the draft agreement was prepared to fulfill the decision of the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of December 26, 2016.

The draft demanded that the EAEU countries start talks with Iran “on concluding an interim agreement leading to the formation of a free trade area, and endorsed at the session of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission on March 7, 2017”.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier this month that the agreement was set to be signed by the two sides within months.

“The talks on drafting a temporary agreement on the creation of an EAEU-Iran free trade zone have been finalized. The plan is to sign it within months," Tass quoted him as saying.

Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei also said talks on the free trade zone agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran were close to completion.

Iran and Russia have been exploring various avenues to deepen trade ties as a buffer against unilateral US sanctions against both countries.

Tehran and Moscow are currently in talks to sign an agreement on using local currencies in trade instead of the US dollar and the euro.

Ushakov said earlier this month that Russian investment in developing Iran’s oil and gas fields could total more than $50 billion.

Last week, Iran and Turkey opened their first letter of credit for business transactions in their national currencies as the two countries move to ditch the US dollar and the euro in bilateral trade.

http://107.189.40.42/Detail/2018/04/24/559546/Iran-Russia-Eurasia-EAEU-free-trade