Russia to begin food imports from Iran in January 2015 - Rosselkhoznadzor

TEHERAN, December 21. /TASS/. First batches of food products from Iran will be supplies to Russia already in January 2015, a representative of the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary authority /Rosselkhoznadzor/, Alexei Alexeyenko, who has just returned from a visit to Iran, told TASS on Sunday. He said that while in Iran the Russian delegation had met with Iranian government officials and businessmen to “coordinate quality- related issues and choose companies that will supply food products to Russia.” “We made certain that products offered for exporting to Russia from Iran were of high quality, for instance, dairy products,” Alexeyenko said, adding that the spectrum of products ranged from fresh milk to hard cheese. Besides, the list of possible exports included fish, sea foods, vegetables and fruits. The first to enter the Russian market, according to Alexeyenko, might be Iranian premium-class shrimps from the Gulf and trout bred at fisheries near Teheran. The sides discussed a possibility to export shrimps and lobsters right after they were caught by Iranian cargo airplanes. “It is planned to import 20,000 tonnes of high-quality trout and at least 3,000 tonnes of shrimps and sea foods from Iran,” the Russian official said, adding that Rosselkhoznadzor specialists has already issues export permits to 20 Iranian companies. The Rosselkhoznadzor official underscored that fact that mutual settlements with Iranina companies will not be done in U.S. dollars. “Settlements will be executed either in the national currencies or on the basis of supplies of products both sides are interested in,” he said. “We all understand that the dollar rate against the rouble is ungrounded high and doesn’t reflect the rouble’s buying capacity. So, we should use other principles to build economic relations.” As an example, he cited his talks with the owner of an Iranian poultry farm, who said she was interested in buying feed grain in Russia along with selling poultry. “Russian grain enjoys high demand in the world,” Alexeyenko noted. “The current suspension of its sales on the global market is rooted in the unstable exchange rate of the rouble and some companies are seeking to use the situation to buy Russian grain at low prices.” “AS for Iran, we are ready to sell grain to that country. Teheran considers grain purchases in Russia as a strategic area of cooperation,” he said. “A temporary suspension of grain exports from Russia will not hurt Iran, the more so as we are set for a very serious and long-term cooperation in the area of food supplies.” Read more