Tehran, Iran, August 22
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Trade with Russians is a difficult job, said an Iranian fisheries official, adding that no time can yet be specified for starting to mass-export fisheries to Russia.
The export of aquatics to Russia is a long process and needs much ground preparation, Secretary General of Iran's Aquatics Producers' Association Ali Akbar Khodaei said, Mehr news agency reported August 22.
He said he does not expect the trade relations, which have been hampered for many years, be established overnight.
Special behavior of Russians, issues related to money transfer, and lack of trust between the sides are among the major problems, he stated.
So far a couple of containers of fisheries have been exported to Russia and been met with open arms, he said, adding the exported aquatics consisted mainly of farmed shrimp.
Russia and Iran have signed an agreement on exporting 20,000 metric tons of seafood from Iran to Russia, including shrimp, trout, sprat as well as canned fish during the current Iranian fiscal year (which started on March 21).
Russia banned imports of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables from the United States, the 28-nation European Union, Australia and Canada for one year at the start of August 2014, in retaliation for sanctions imposed over Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine.
Iran says the Russian tit-for-tat ban on food from the West has opened up new opportunities for its exporters.
Russia has reduced tariffs on imports of fishery products to 20 percent, which led to a surge in requests for importing Iranian seafood.