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29 May 2025 EAEU and Indonesia held discussions to finalize negotiations on free trade agreement From May 28 to 29, Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, paid a working visit to the Republic of Indonesia to discuss issues requiring special attention for the successful completion of negotiations on a free trade agreement. "The conclusion of an agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Indonesia will give goods from the Eurasian Economic Union countries duty-free access to the largest market in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 280 million people," mentioned Andrey Slepnev following his Jakarta meeting with Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The EEC Minister emphasized that the preferential trade regime will significantly improve the competitiveness of EAEU products in the Indonesian market, which, in turn, will enable increased and diversified exports to this country.  The visit resulted in the parties agreeing on further close contacts and outlining a plan to finalize the negotiations as soon as possible.

29 May 2025 EEC presented to ESCAP EAEU activities on digitalizing logistics and trade Konstantin Begidzhanov, Deputy Director of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Trade Policy Department, delivered a video message about the Eurasian Economic Union in the context of digitalizing logistics and trade at the meeting of the Committee on Trade, Investment, Enterprise and Business Innovation of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). During his presentation, Konstantin Begidzhanov told about the key areas of digitalizing the EAEU transport and trade. He paid special attention to the introduction of advanced technologies in the field of electronic documentation and the use of navigation seals, which significantly increases the efficiency of international transportation. For instance, by 2025, rail freight carriers of the Union countries have ensured the transition to digital legally significant transportation documents between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. The share of transportation using electronic documents between Belarus and Russia is 90%. Konstantin Begidzhanov noted that digitalization of logistics not only helps speed up and simplify trade operations, but also increases the transparency and reliability of transport processes.

23 May 2025 EEC Council granted tariff preference for potato imports to Kazakhstan and Russia until new harvest The Eurasian Economic Commission's Council decided to provide tariff preference in the form of exemption from import customs duties on potatoes (code 0701 90 CN FEA of the EAEU), imported in the amount of not more than 150,000 tons in the Republic of Kazakhstan until June 30, 2025 and intended for retail sale. Besides, the tariff preference for potatoes intended for use in food production or for retail sale in the Russian Federation was increased by 150,000 tons until July 31, 2025. "The adopted measure of customs and tariff regulation is aimed at stabilizing potato prices in Kazakhstan and Russia," mentioned Andrey Slepnev, the EEC Minister in charge of Trade.  The Decision shall come into effect after 10 calendar days have elapsed from the date of its official publication.

22 May 2025 Andrey Slepnev discussed with Samad Hassanzadeh interaction between entrepreneurs from EAEU countries and Iran Andrey Slepnev, the EEC Minister in charge of Trade, met with Samad Hassanzadeh, President of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, at the Eurasian Economic Commission's headquarters. The two sides discussed interaction between the business circles of the EAEU and Iran in the context of implementing the full-fledged Free Trade Agreement that entered into force on May 15, 2025. Andrey Slepnev informed his Iranian colleagues about preparing a road map for implementing the Agreement, which will include measures to develop direct cooperation between the EAEU and Iranian businesses and thematic seminars to provide clarification on the specifics of the parties' trade regulation. "The new agreement establishes unique conditions of access to each other's markets for business circles of the EAEU and Iran, creates convenient mechanisms and platforms for networking, making urgent trade and economic cooperation decisions, and harmonizing the understanding of specifics of legislation and its enforcement practices in our countries," told Andrey Slepnev. The EEC Minister invited Iranian business representatives to take part in the Eurasian Economic Forum to be held in Minsk on June 26-27. "We see the new phase of cooperation with Iran as a partnership. It is important that our entrepreneurs perceive each other not as competitors, but as partners in order to build up their potential and technology capacity and work together in the total market of 250 million people," emphasized Andrei Slepnev.

21 May 2025 Commission discussed intensification of trade with Serbia with EAEU public authorities and businesses A seminar featuring public authorities and businesses of the Eurasian Economic Union countries, dedicated to the development of sectoral cooperation, identification and elimination of barriers to mutual trade with Serbia, was held on May 21 in the Eurasian Economic Commission under the chairmanship of Andrey Slepnev, the EEC Minister in charge of Trade. The event was aimed at intensifying cooperation within the framework of the Free Trade Area Agreement between the EAEU and its Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, on the other part. The objective of the seminar was to identify trade barriers faced by exporters in different economic sectors when supplying goods to the Serbian market, as well as new opportunities for cooperation and ways to eliminate trade restrictions. "The proposals voiced at today's event will be elaborated in detail jointly with the Member States for possible discussion at the planned meeting of the Joint Committee for implementing the Agreement with the Republic of Serbia," mentioned Andrey Slepnev. In this regard, the EEC Minister recalled the recent fruitful consultations with the Serbian party having resulted in the removal of quantitative restrictions on imports of vegetable oils and margarine from the EAEU from March 3, 2025, which had been in force for two years. The Free Trade Area Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States, on the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, on the other part, was signed on October 25, 2019 and came into effect on July 10, 2021. The Agreement provides for mutual abolition of import customs duties on 93% of the commodity nomenclature.

15 May 2025 EAEU & Iran: full-fledged free trade agreement entered into force On May 15, 2025, a full-fledged Free Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and its Member States, on the one part, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the other part, entered into force. It will replace the interim agreement with restricted commodity coverage, which had been in effect since 2019, and will create unique conditions for manufacturers from EAEU countries to access the Iranian market. Hence, the average rate of import customs duty on goods supplied from the Union to Iran will decrease from 20% to 4.5%. "As part of implementing the full-fledged agreement, the parties have already started organizing the first meeting of the Joint Committee, scheduled for the second half of 2025, during which it is planned to discuss specific issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran," mentioned Andrey Slepnev, Minister in charge of Trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission. The new agreement enshrines mutual obligations of the EAEU and Iran on preferential market access covering 90% of the entire commodity nomenclature. Compared to the interim agreement, the full-fledged agreement has a significantly improved regulatory part aimed at creating a barrier-free trade space between the parties. According to experts, its implementation will make it possible to multiply the trade turnover between the EAEU and Iran, which in the medium term may reach $12 billion.

15 May 2025 Mikhail Cherekaev spoke at Russia – Islamic World Forum about EEC's work on free trade agreements Mikhail Cherekaev, Deputy Director of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Trade Policy Department, took part in the session Eurasian Partnership: Drivers of Economic Growth through Interregional Cooperation as part of the Russia – Islamic World international economic forum organized in Kazan by the Eurasian Business Association. The EEC representative reported on the work being done by the Eurasian Economic Union countries and the Commission to conclude preferential trade agreements, in particular the negotiations with the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Indonesia. On a separate note, Mikhail Cherekaev spoke about the successful cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran. "We attach great importance to enhancing our interaction with the business community. This is important both at the stage of shaping a position for negotiations with new free trade agreement partners and for implementing existing agreements in terms of information sharing about existing problems or barriers," mentioned the Deputy Director of the EEC Trade Policy Department.

14 May 2025 Andrey Slepnev, "The EAEU and Mongolia have finalized negotiations on an interim trade agreement and launched the procedures for its signing" The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission approved the draft Interim Trade Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Mongolia and sent it to the Member States for internal legal procedures. "Following further consultations with the Mongolian party, we together launched the procedures necessary for signing an interim trade agreement. The document covers 367 commodity sub-items for each party," said Andrey Slepnev, EEC Minister in charge of Trade. He specified that once the agreement is signed and enters into force, the EAEU countries will have preferential access to the Mongolian market for such essential items as cereals (wheat, barley, corn), meat products (pork, chicken), dairy products (milk powder, yogurt, cheese, butter), honey, sunflower and soybean oils, sugar, metallurgical products (ferroalloys, hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, bars, angles, pipes, etc.), motor vehicles (cars, buses, trucks, special vehicles, automotive components, trailers, etc.), chemical industry products (polymers, plastic sheets and parts), tires, etc. "We will also happily welcome Mongolian goods in our market, including key goods of our partner's export interest: meat and dairy products (horse meat, cattle meat, mutton, canned meat, offal, yoghurt, cheese, etc.), light industry products (in particular wool, yarns, as well as ready-to-wear knitted and textile clothing)," the EEC Minister emphasized. Andrey Slepnev expressed confidence that the conclusion of the interim trade agreement will create favorable conditions for further growth of mutual trade and will generally contribute to the strengthening of traditional friendly relations between the EAEU states and Mongolia.

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