Iran Works to Boost Trade With Russian Republic of Karelia
Iran Works to Boost Trade With Russian Republic of Karelia
A delegation from Republic of Karelia, one of the 85 republics of Russia, met with the Iranian businessmen at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and explored ways for broadening economic ties

TEHRAN (Iran News) –A delegation from Republic of Karelia, one of the 85 republics of Russia, met with the Iranian businessmen at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and explored ways for broadening economic ties.

The Republic of Karelia is a region in northwest Russia, bordering Finland and trade with this republic can be a gateway for Iranians to reach Northern Europe market.

The delegation was headed by deputy prime minister of Republic of Karelia, and representatives of businesses like wood industries, wood and paper, minerals, fishery and pre-fabricated houses accompanied the delegation.

Before the B2B meeting of business activists of the two countries, Deputy Prime Minister of Karelia Mr. Dmitry Rodionov met the secretary general of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Mr. Bahman Eshqi and during the meeting the Russian pointed to some fields for cooperation like in the aquatic products, adding that Karelia accounts for 70% of Russia’s trout production. He said that since Russia is unable to provide fish products from Europe, it looks at Iran’s market to meet its demands. He added that exploring ways for re-export of Karelia’s caviar via Iran to the export target markets is the priority of the delegation during his meeting in Tehran.

Meanwhile in the forum held at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Rodionov said that before the EU sanctions on Russia, Finland accounted for almost 50% of Karelia’s exports and some of its exports were also done via Finland to other European states but the sanctions closed the gateway.

He then pointed to the north-south transit corridor which connects Saint Petersburg and Astra Khan Ports in Russia  and Amirabad Port in Iran’s North and Banda Abbas in south of Iran and ultimately to Mumbai Port in India. He added that revival of this corridor is very important for Karelia government and said that derange of a water channel in Karelia which is connected to this corridor has been put on the agenda.

Rodionov went on to say that statistics show that the trade between Iran and Republic of Karelia was around $3.5m in 2021 which is not considerable and exports of paper and cellules products to Iran have been the major items of trade.

Then Secretary General of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Mr. Eshqi, for his part, said that economies of Iran and Russia are complementary and pointed to the cruel sanctions against the two countries which make necessary expansion of bilateral economic cooperation. He then pointed to the role of chambers of commerce in developing bilateral cooperation and noted that Tehran Chamber of Commerce is ready to meet the goods demands of the two sides via constant interaction with Karelia.

Then Head of Iran Exports Confederation Mr. Mohammad Lahooti pointed to the significance of boosting the relation between Iran and Russia and said that after meetings of presidents of Iran and Russia, the trade volume between the two countries has increased to some extent although the trade volume is not considerable due to their economic capacities. He added that the current conflict between Russia and the West is an opportunity for Iran and Russia to increase their trade volume easily.

He reiterated that launch of regular sipping lines is the main priority for increasing the trade exchanges and participation of Russia for compensation of ship shortage in the Caspian Sea in the current condition is very important. He also criticized some restrictions for ply of trucks and it leads to rot of some goods.

Lahooti also called for setting up a consortium for rail transportation between Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan which is aimed at facilitating and guaranteeing the pace for transit of goods via Turkmenistan.

Meanwhile in the meeting, Russia’s Commercial Representative in Iran Mr. Rustam Gaganshin pointed to the strong capacity of Republic of Karelia in exports, adding that Karelia’s exports are in the EU standards and they were used to be exported to EU countries before recent sanctions.

He added that Karelia can cooperate with Iran both in exports and imports, adding that currently talks are underway between Iran and Russia for adjusting  standards, reiterating that Iranian and Russian traders are keen the north-south corridor to be activated soon to deepen the trade cooperation.

He also announced imminent visit of Russian Central Bank’s representative to Iran for adjusting the standards for transfer of financial information and connecting two banking and payment systems of Mir and Shetab.