ArmInfo. On February 21, First Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov to visit Iran to negotiate on FTA of the state with EEU, said the First Deputy Prime Minister's representative in an interview to RIA Novosti.
"The First Deputy Prime Minister will visit Tehran on February 21, 2017. It is planned that Shuvalov will have work meetings with the Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh and with the Minister ofCommunications and Information Technology in the Islamic Republic of Iran Doctor Mahmoud Vaezi", said the representative. "The main subject of the meetings will be the negotiations on temporary agreement in the framework of free trade area forming between Iran and EEU", Shuvalov's representative added.
To recall, EEU member states are Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
Earlier, in an interview to RIA Novosti the Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian informed that Armenia actively supports the possibility of FTA ceation between EEU and Iran. He also noted the wide prospects of involvement of the Iranian business into Armenian market. According to Minister, Tehran and Yerevan continue the work directed on business environment improvement and investment opportunities for the states. "An important milestone in this process was the visa regime cancellation between our states which will also help the mutual trade and economic connections deepening", he added.
To recall, the Iranian Government approved the agreement on mutual usage of "Meghri(Armenia)- Norduz(Iran) customs gate", signed by both sides. The agreement was signed on December 21, 2016 in the framework of Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's official visit to Armenia. In December 2016, during a EEU summit, the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia approved the necessity of negotiations launch on FTA creation with Iran, Egypt, India and Singapore. During the summit the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated that the Iranian President Hasan Rouhani expressed interest in signing a temporary agreement with EEU on FTA.
The subject of FTA between Iran and EEU was discussed during Russian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission meeting on Economic Cooperation in 11-13 December 2016. The chairman from the Iranian side Mahmoud Vaezi then told the journalists that Iran hopes to sign the corresponding agreement in 2017. Earlier it was informed that the agreement on FTA with Iran will be carried in several phases. That means that the free regime will be valid for certain products. The final list of these products is not yet approved. The first step in creating a free trade area with Iran may include products of light industry and agriculture. However, it was noted that the establishment of an FTA with Iran complicates the fact that the country is not a member of the World Trade Organization.