The idea of Russian imports of Iranian dairy, milk, meat, poultry and seafood has been broached for sometime but secretary of the Iranian Exporters of Aquatics Association Ali Akbar Khodaee says major shipments might be a long time off.
Trade with the Russians is an arduous task and one must not expect any transaction which has not existed for years would happen in a short space of time, the Mehr news agency on Saturday quoted him as saying.
Russia has been looking for new sources of agricultural products after banning imports of fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy products from Europe, the US, Canada and Australia in retaliation.
Iran has emerged as one of the candidates and Russian officials have visited several dairy and seafood production units and industrial slaughterhouses in Tehran and other citiesto assess existingcapacities.
Khodaee said two containers of Iranian seafood, mainly farm-raised shrimp, have been already shipped to Russia and received well by customers.
But significant exports would happen only when the Russian customers know Iranian products better; but this is a long-term process and needs some grounds to be paved, he added.
Moreover, specific behavior of the Russian traders, money transfer issues and lack of mutual trust which has developed over years make things harder.
The two countries have a checkered history characterized by Russo-Persian Wars between the 17th and 19th centuries. But they have turned to close allies in their suspicion of US intentions in the region.
In their bid to confront Western sanctions on both countries, Iran and Russia have agreed on bartering oil for goods but the arrangement has yet to take off.
The plan is for Russia to buy up to 500,000 barrels a day (bpd) in exchange for cash that Iran would use to buy Russian goods. However, ithas apparently faced hurdles after initial announcements that it would go ahead imminently.
By Press T V
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