Eurasian Economic Union Expects to Sign Free Trade Deal With Iran This Year

A temporary agreement on establishing a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran may be signed in 2017, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Board Tigran Sargsyan said Monday.

ASTANA (Sputnik) — The negotiations between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran on a temporary free trade zone agreement are expected to be finished by the next EAEU summit, scheduled for October 11.

"The decision has been taken to speed up the work to sign the agreement with Iran. We expect the document to be signed in 2017," Sargsyan told reporters following a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Astana.

In June, the EEC, with is the bloc's main executive body, said that the EAEU and Iran had finished working on the text of the temporary free trade zone agreement and that the sides will continue talks on liberalizing mutual market access and coordinating tariff obligations in the near future.

Earlier, the Iranian ambassador to Russia said that the country is interested in economic projects of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states, the EAEU and the Chinese Silk Road.

In 2016, Russia and Iran agreed to pay for bilateral supplies of products in national currencies, stepping up economic cooperation.

The EAEU, comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, is an international organization that encourages regional economic integration through the free movement of goods, services, and people within the union.