YEREVAN (Realist English). Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Gnel Sanosyan and Deputy Minister of Petroleum of Iran, CEO of the National Gas Company Majid Chegeni signed a memorandum on the extension of the agreement “Gas in exchange for Electricity”, the Armenpress agency reports.
“The Caucasus region is part of Iran’s cultural and civilizational past, and we are very sensitive to this region. Establishing security and peace in the region is of great importance for the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi said during a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
During the meeting, the possibilities of expanding trade and economic ties and a continued increase in trade turnover were touched upon. In previous months, Iran’s trade and economic relations with Armenia recorded an increase of 43%, but the need to increase these volumes to $3 billion per year was emphasized, for which, according to Pashinyan and Raisi, there is an appropriate potential.
The parties also discussed issues of cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development, energy, agriculture, construction and other industries. The importance of implementing joint projects to facilitate cargo transportation was noted, as well as the need to complete the construction of the third power transmission line between Armenia and Iran was stressed.
Over the past 8 months, Armenia’s trade turnover with the EAEU countries has approached $2.8 billion. Most of the trade turnover fell on Russia — $2.642 billion, which is 71.7% more than last year. At the same time, exports increased by 2 times, and imports — by 55.3%, Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan said.
