MOSCOW, December 22 (Sputnik) — Moscow and Tehran agreed that using national currencies may be appropriate in mutual food trade during a meeting between Russia's state agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor and Iran's Deputy Agriculture Minister Hassan Sinaki, the watchdog said in a Monday statement.
Apart from the possible use of the Russian ruble and the Iranian rial in food trade operations, Rosselhkhoznadzor and the Tehran official pointed out the potential benefits of an increase in volume and diversification of the food trade.
Deputy Minister Sinaki also noted that Iran's food exports to Russia will have a "halal" certificate, which would ensure high demand from Russian Muslims.
Following the introduction of a series of Western economic sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis, Moscow issued a one-year ban on the export of many food products from the United States, the European Union and other countries that had imposed the restrictions. Moscow has also started to search for alternative food suppliers, with Turkey and Pakistan expressing readiness to boost food exports to Russia.
In November, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia plans to quit the "dollar dictatorship" in global trade and begin to increase the use of other national currencies, in particular, the ruble and the yuan.
