MOSCOW, July 12. /TASS/. Gazprombank is starting activity in Iran among other Russian banks, Akbar Komijani, deputy governor of Iran’s Central Bank is quoted as saying by the Bloomberg agency.

Komijani said he has held talks in St. Petersburg with "big Russian banks."

The presence of Russian banks is a necessary condition for increasing trade turnover between countries and for the expansion of Russian companies on the Iranian market.

In March 2016, there was a meeting in the Bank of Russia between representatives of major Russian and Iranian credit institutions, as well as the two countries’ Central Banks to discuss the priorities of interbank cooperation, mutual opening of correspondent accounts by credit organizations, as well as the promotion of mutual foreign trade settlements. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Russia, the Moscow Stock Exchange, the JSC Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR), Vnesheconombank, Iranian and Russian credit organizations.

Moscow and Tehran also discuss interaction of the payment systems and wider use of the national currencies in mutual settlements.

Director General of the International Affairs Department at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Hossein Yaghoubi Miab said on June 16 that the bank began working with Gazprombank, but would like to expand the number of Russian partner-banks. "We are now in the process of reestablishment of correspondent relations with Russia. The positive thing is that we have started negotiations with Gazprombank and we have fulfilled all the recommendations. But we expect even more (Russian banks) ... Now we do not have issues relating to sanctions, so we look forward to developing the correspondent (interbank) relations," he said at a panel session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The United Nations, United States and European Union lifted on January 16 economic and financial sanctions on Iran that had been imposed in connection with the Iranian nuclear program. On January 17, the SWIFT international banking system announced the lifting of the sanctions regime on Iranian banks. According to the Central Bank of Iran, now all Iranian banks are connected to the international system of bank telecommunications.

Gazprombank is one of the three largest banks in Russia and ranks fifth in the list of banks in Central and Eastern Europe. The bank is owned by the Russian natural gas company Gazprom. Gazprombank as a universal financial institution delivers a wide range of banking and investment services for over 45,000 corporate and about 3 million private clients.

By TASS