Russia and Iran have discussed possible oil and gas swaps and investment in oil and gas projects, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters following a meeting with representatives of Iran's business community.
"Energy is one of the most important sectors of our trade and economic cooperation. We discussed in detail issues related to swap deliveries of gas and oil and increasing joint investments in oil and gas projects," he said.
The minister also said that Russia and Iran have agreed to move to the highest possible level of mutual settlements in national currencies, co-chair of the intergovernmental commission of Russia and Iran, adding that the countries are discussing the connection of payment systems Mir and Shetab (Iran’s payment system), as well as the operation of national financial messaging systems.
"One of the key subjects (of the talks) was the creation of conditions for mutual settlements and processing of payments between our legal entities, organizations. Importantly, we agreed to move to the highest possible level of settlements in national currencies. We discussed together with central banks the spread and operation of the financial messaging system, as well as the connection of Mir and Shetab payment cards," Novak said.
The Mir card is not available for use in Iran now. Earlier reports said Iran and Russia were discussing the issue of connecting their banks to the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), a Russian analogue of the global payment system SWIFT.
