The State Duma of the Russian Federation at its plenary session on May 28 unanimously voted for the ratification of the Agreement on free trade between the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran, the RF Ministry of economic development said in a statement.
The agreement was signed at the end of 2023 and will replace the temporary agreement of 2018 that is currently in force.
The temporary agreement offers preferential customs duties for some 60% of Russia’s exports to Iran. As a result, Russia’s trade turnover with Iran doubled from $2.1 bn in 2019 to $4.1 bn in 2023.
According to Vladimir Ilyichev, deputy minister of economic development, the new agreement covers almost all of the Russian exports and significantly improve the trade conditions.
The average customs due or Russian export goods will be cut by about 4 times to make 4.5%, while a majority of export nomenclature will be subject to zero tax.
The latter concerns metal products, timber and woodwork, electric and mechanic equipment, electric machinery and appliances, chemical products, pipes, railway locomotives, beef, confectionery, sugar and other commodities.
‘All this will allow Russian businesses to save up to $300 million a year,’ Ilyichev said.
Photo: Eurasian Economic Commission