Baku, Azerbaijan, May 31
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran's oil cooperation with Russia is not sort of bartering, said Mohsen Qamsari, the Director of the International Affairs Department at National Iranian Oil Company.
"It has been agreed that Russia to buy oil from us and export it. Instead, we will be able to buy our needed goods from across the world," Iran's ISNA news agency reported on May 31.
"This is not sort of bartering. Negotiations are being carried out and have not been yet finalized," he added.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said in December 2014 that Iran and Russia have not signed a barter agreement to exchange oil for Russian goods. The terms of oil cooperation between Russia and Iran are outlined in a memorandum of understanding signed in August 2014 and a barter agreement is not part of it, he added.
Zanganeh's remarks contradict statements made by Russia's Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev.
On April 15, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said: "There are negotiations between companies. They are working on the terms. We do not foresee oil deliveries."
Russia was the 18th leading importer of Iranian non-oil goods in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015, according to the Iran Customs Administration.
Iran exported $296.5 million of non-oil goods to Russia and imported $667.18 million of non-oil goods from the country.
