Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak plans to pay an official visit to Iran in a bid to explore ways to boost trade cooperation between the two countries, a report said.
"I am planning to visit Tehran in the near future in order to discuss our projects, the development of trade and economic cooperation, trade turnover and in fact in all areas," Press TV quoted Novak as saying on Friday.
Saying that Tehran and Moscow are now discussing the dates for holding a relevant intergovernmental commission meeting, he added, “It will take place in Iran this year, most likely in Tehran. The date has not been determined.”
In late February, a Russian deputy finance minister announced that Moscow is set to provide Iran with a key state export loan amounting to $5 billion in 2016.
"The degree of readiness (to grant a loan to Iran) is very high, with one of three issues we haven’t finally accorded yet being the legal implementation of the agreement, which is a separate matter," Sergey Storchak said.
Preliminary agreements on granting Iran the $5-billion loan were signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran at the end of November 2015.
Officials in Moscow had earlier said that the loan will be used for infrastructure projects, mostly likely electrical power generation and the development of railways.
The measure is expected to boost trade between the two countries. The target is $10 billion, from the current $1.6 billion.