TEHRAN: Iran and Russia, which both found themselves under Western sanctions, have decided to expand their cooperation with barter deals.
A senior Russian official said Russia will begin the imports of Iranian dairy, fish and meat products in exchange for grain.
Alexei Alexeyenko, deputy head of Russia’s agriculture watchdog said the country was in the process of approving a list of Iranian cheese and meat suppliers, the Sputnik news agency reported.
A Russian agriculture ministry delegation visited Iran recently to discuss trade ties.
“At talks in Tehran, we discussed a possible deal to exchange Russian grain for meat or fish or cheese from Iran. It would be a barter deal,” Alexeyenko said.
As the two countries suffer from sanctions, they are attempting to bypass restrictions through such a barter deal.
The sides were engaged in talks on bartering Iranian oil for Russian goods, which generated concerns by some countries – especially the United States.
Last month, Alexander Novak, Russian energy minister said Russian and Iranian companies were discussing terms for a barter deal that excluded oil deliveries.
The remarks put an end to months of speculation about a possible oil-for-goods exchange between the two countries.
Novak clarified that the deal did not envisage any oil supplies to Russia, or Russia shipping Iranian oil cargoes on to other markets.
However, the experts believe that such deal will not be in Iran’s interests. They also considered that the oil-for-goods deal will limit Iran’s trade.
Jamshid Pajouyan, a senior expert at Iran’s Center for Strategic Research within Expediency Discernment Council earlier told Trend that if the contract comes into force, Iran would be forced to import goods only from Russia instead of using its oil money to import from third countries.
He added that the quality of the imported goods as well as importing based on the goods priority will be a problem as well.
