Russia and Iran will continue to increase the share of national currencies in foreign trade settlements, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexander Novak told reporters in Tehran following the meeting of the co-chairs of the meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental commission, Interfax reports.

“One of the key topics of discussion was the financial and banking sector – the creation of conditions for mutual settlements and the passage of payments between legal entities and organizations. We agreed to switch to the use of national currencies as much as possible,” Novak said.

Also, according to him, the connection to the Financial Message Transfer System (SPFS) of the Bank of Russia and the use of the capabilities of the Mir and Shetab payment systems is also on the agenda.

“We are expecting delegations from the Central Bank and the Iranian Ministry of Finance in the near future to work out final decisions in Moscow,” Novak said.

In addition, the co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission discussed Iran’s request for the supply of grain products, wheat and corn. “We are ready to supply poultry meat,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

“The most important direction is banking cooperation, we are talking about the use of national currencies, and good decisions have been made on these issues,” added co-chairman of the commission from the Iranian side, Oil Minister Javad Ouji.

They also discussed the allocation by Russia of the remaining part of the interstate credit line opened to Iran for a total of $5 billion. “We discussed the allocation of the remaining part of the loan for various projects,” he said.