Russia opens 6.5 bln rubles ($71 mln) worth credit line for Iran — Central Bank of Iran

DUBAI, December 27. /TASS/. Russia’s largest savings bank Sberbank and Bank Melli Iran agreed to open a credit line of 6.5 billion rubles ($71 mln) for the import of Russian essential goods to Iran, the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic announced.

"As part of the visit of the governor of the Central Bank of Iran [Mohammad Reza Farzin] to Russia <...> a meeting was held between the heads of Sberbank and Bank Melli Iran, at which [a decision was made] to open a credit line in the amount of 6.5 billion rubles for the import of essential goods from Russia," the press service of the Central Bank of Iran said in a statement.

This is one of the first steps on the path to the development of financial and banking cooperation between Moscow and Tehran after the signing of an agreement on a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the regulator’s press service noted.

In addition, the heads of the central banks of Russia and Iran, Elvira Nabiullina and Mohammad Reza Farzin, held talks during which the parties noted the expansion of cooperation between the central banks of the two countries, the strengthening of relations after the signing of a free trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU.

The parties also outlined plans to use the potential of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to expand trade relations between the two countries. The Central Bank of Iran stressed that Tehran and Moscow opened "a new chapter in the history of financial and banking cooperation."

On December 25, the EAEU countries (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia) signed a full-scale free trade agreement with Iran. The document signing ceremony took place as part of a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin took part.

Origin: https://tass.com/economy/1727189