New Trade Corridor For Russia Amid Sanctions

The Iran shipping company has started transferring its first cargo of Russian goods to India through a new trade corridor.

This comes amidst a rising Western push to isolate Russia from world trading with the EU and the US leading a series of sanctions while asking countries to shun Russian goods including oil and gas.

The Russian cargo consists of two 40-foot containers, of wood laminate sheets, weighing 41 tons, according to a report published in the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

Dariush Jamali, director of a joint-owned Iranian-Russian terminal in Astrakhan revealed that these cargoes departed St. Petersburg for the Caspian Sea port city of Astrakhan. The report, however, did not say when the cargo was transferred to the test corridor.

The report further added that this cargo will cross the length of the Caspian to the northern Iranian port of Anzali. Later, the Russian goods will be transferred by road to the southern port of Bandar Abbas on the Arabian Gulf. These goods will be then loaded onto a ship and sent to the Indian port of Nhava Sheva.

Transfer of goods through the new route

Jamali also noted that the transfer of goods through the new route is coordinated and managed by the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines Group and its regional offices in Russia and India. The cargo is expected to reach India in 25 days.