Russia, Iran discuss oil and gas swaps, investment - Novak

TEHERAN. May 25 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran have discussed possible oil and gas swaps and investment in oil and gas projects, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters following a meeting with representatives of Iran's business community.

"Energy is one of the most important sectors of our trade and economic cooperation. We discussed in detail issues related to swap deliveries of gas and oil and increasing joint investments in oil and gas projects," he said.

Russia and Iran are continuing to boost the share of national currencies in foreign trade settlements, Novak said.

"One key topic of discussion was the financial and banking sphere - creating terms for mutual settlements and processing payments between legal entities and organizations. We agreed to switch over to the use of national currencies as much as possible," Novak said.

Also on the agenda was connecting to the Bank of Russia's Financial Messaging System and using the capabilities of the Mir and Shetab payment systems, he said.

"We're expecting a delegation from the Central Bank, the Finance Ministry of Iran in the near future to work out the final decisions in Moscow," Novak said.

The co-chairs of the intergovernmental commission also discussed Iran's request for supplies of grain products, wheat and corn. "We're ready to supply poultry," Novak said.

"The main area is banking cooperation, we're talking about using national currencies, and good decisions have been made on these issues," Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji, the co-chair from Iran, said.

Russia allocating the remaining portion of an intergovernmental credit line opened for Iran for $5 billion in total was also discussed. "We discussed the allocation of the remaining portion of credit under various projects," Owji said.