TEHRAN, June 12. /TASS/. Iran is considering canceling visas for Russian businessmen in an effort to encourage investment, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari said on Sunday.
"Three issues - energy, trade and transit - are the most important topics for Russia and Iran, which require cooperation at the level of appropriate departments and institutions," the Fars news service quoted him as saying. It was also reported that "Safari stated visas could be canceled for Russian businessmen in order to increase investment and that there are plans to set up an interbank mechanism for settling payments in rubles with countries that are close to Russia and establish a green customs corridor [with Russia]."
He also expressed his satisfaction with the growth of Iran's exports to Russia and China in recent months. "Russia has presented a list of import needs, according to which Iran can export a lot of goods, which can lead to a significant increase in Iranian supplies," the diplomat said. "This could be a suitable way for Iran to pay off its debt to Russia."
On June 26, 2021, Ali Akbar Salehi, who at that time was the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that Iran owes Russia for building the Bushehr nuclear power plant about 500 million euros. On May 26, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Iran at the end of 2021 and at the beginning of 2022 paid Russia some of the debt for the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.