The Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy of Iran, Mohammad Khazaee, is to pay a visit to Russia on Monday in order to sign a number of documents and talks with his Russian counterpart on further cooperation, Iran's Ambassador to the Russian Federation Mehdi Sanai announced, a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reports.
In particular, he confirmed that Khazaee is travelling to Moscow primarily to sign contracts on the opening of a credit line. "The Deputy Economy Minister is to visit Russia on Monday. He will hold talks with the Ministry of Finance in order to sign contracts for a credit line that Russia is opening for joint projects,’’ the ambassador said.
A meeting with Deputy Finance Minister of Russia Sergey Storchak will be devoted to it. "It is important for us, projects for $40 billion have already been initialled, and there are contracts for more than $2 billion, which were signed during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Iran. It is necessary to complete the process and sign a contract for the line of credit," Mehdi Sanai stressed.
"I hope that in 2016 Russia will open up those loans according to our agreements – $5 billion from the state and $2 billion from Vnesheconombank,’’ the Ambassador of Iran added.
Recall that, according to Iranian media reports, a line of credit for $2.3 billion will be given for a period of 10 years with a three-year grace period and an interest rate no higher than 5%. These funds will be spent on joint projects on construction of a railway, which is to connect the cities of Gyarmsar and Ince-Borun, as well as the construction of a thermal power plant in Bandar Abbas.
During the press conference, Mehdi Sanai also welcomed the agreement on simplification of the visa regime coming into force between the two countries. The Ambassador said that Iran is now negotiating on abolishing visas for tourist groups.
