The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 2nd Caspian Economic Forum.
Mikhail Mishustin and First Vice President of Iran Mohammad Mokhber
Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Mokhber, I am glad to welcome you. You and I have just attended the 2nd Caspian Economic Forum. Now we will review the most important matters related to Russian-Iranian cooperation and sum up the results in the bilateral format.
First of all, I would like to ask you to send kind regards and best wishes to President of Iran Sayyid Ebrahim Raisi from President of Russia Vladimir Putin and from me personally.
Russia and Iran are bound by friendly, neighbourly and partner relations, and we intend to strengthen our cooperation in all areas, regardless of the external situation – I mean the illegitimate economic sanctions that unfriendly states imposed on both Russia and Iran. I am confident that expanding Russian-Iranian collaboration will be the best answer to the sanctions pressure, and the joint measures we are taking have yielded positive results in trade, the economy, science and technology. The draft of a new, major interstate treaty, which will bring our relations to the level of strategic partnership, is at the final coordinating stage.
Russia is one of Iran’s leading foreign trade partners: last year, bilateral trade grew by more than 80% – 80.9% to be exact – and reached a record high of $4 billion. Between January and August of this year, its volume increased by another 36% compared with the same period in 2021, reaching almost $3.3 billion.
Despite this rapid growth of trade, we have great potential for further boosting trade and, of course, for building up reciprocal investment in such promising areas as energy, industrial cooperation, transport infrastructure, agriculture, innovations and much more. Russian companies are ready to offer advanced digital economy and telecommunications technologies. The Russian Government adopts specific decisions to launch new economic and investment projects in different fields.
In September, for instance, a large business mission of our entrepreneurs visited Iran under the auspices of the Russian Export Centre. It included representatives of 65 companies interested in developing ties with their Iranian partners.
Context
The Permanent Russia-Iran Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation is functioning effectively. My deputy Alexander Novak co-chairs it on Russia’s behalf. Major Russian companies are working in Iran in energy, industry and transport infrastructure. I would like to note the special importance of our flagship projects. I am referring to the construction of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and the Sirik Thermal Power Plant and the new initiatives by Gazprom and ZN Vostok.
We also welcome Iran’s decision to provide comfortable conditions for the operation of Russian businesses. The departure of unfriendly companies from Russia has freed up a lot of space on our market that our Iranian partners can fill. This is a two-way street, and we welcome them to Russia.
Esteemed Mr Mokhber, I am ready to discuss current issues of trade and economic cooperation with you. Go ahead, please.
Mohammad Mokhber (retranslated): In the name of the Almighty, the most gracious and the most merciful. To begin with, I’d like to thank you for organising the second economic forum that was a success. I would also like to ask you to convey our warm greetings to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Iran and Russia maintain good relations that are moving forward. We are fully committed to continue developing them in the current difficult conditions. In the past few months, there have been frequent visits between our countries. We have supported Russia at international venues and maintained good trade and economic cooperation.
I’d also like to tell you that yesterday evening I met with representatives of large Russian companies. We discussed investing in deposits and developing agricultural supplies, as well as issues of banking, monetary, transit and transport cooperation. Very good decisions were made. We issued relevant instructions to the members of the Iranian delegation and recommendations to the members of the Russian delegation on each of the issues discussed. We agreed to draft a timetable for implementing these agreements with a view to monitoring them and moving forward.
We are grateful to Russia for its efforts to revive the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and lift sanctions imposed on us, and for its assistance in securing relevant guarantees and verification. In addition, we are also thankful to Russia for supporting our position of rejecting the IAEA’s accusations against us.
Naturally, we advocate stability and security in the region. I must say that NATO’s eastward expansion is dangerous. We are against killing, but we believe this was triggered by NATO’s presence in the region.
Iran is interested in developing cooperation within the SCO, the Eurasian Economic Union and BRICS. We are grateful for Russia’s support for Iran’s full-fledged participation in the SCO and further engagement in BRICS.
We favour the creation of a joint working group, in part, for countering the harsh sanctions against our two countries. We have been under these sanctions for 40 years now but have not allowed them to undermine our rule of the country or affect us seriously. Our main strategy on sanctions is to neutralise them and eliminate their consequences. I think we have amassed very good experience and we can share it with our Russian colleagues.
We must expedite our efforts to address issues related to transport, transit, energy supplies, developing trade and economic cooperation, including banking and finances, and invigoration of the International North-South Transport Corridor. Very good decisions have been made but, of course, they must be carried out as soon as possible.
Iran is interested in developing energy cooperation. I am referring to the participation of Russian companies in oil and gas deposits, oil and gas swaps and increased cooperation between our Ministry of Petroleum and Gazprom. We must also cooperate in manufacturing high-tech products and LNG production capacity in Iran.
There is also the issue of grain supplies and the development of a corresponding mechanism. We had plans to do this in the past but, unfortunately, they remain unfulfilled to this day. I am referring to the revision of grain duties. It is important for us to buy grain in Russia and we’d like to have tariff discounts like those Russia grants to the EAEU countries under presidential agreements.
