Русский
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has met with President of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Moscow.
Putin stated “I am delighted to see you once again in the capital of Russia. We attach special importance to our relations with the United Arab Emirates. For Russia, the UAE is a friendly nation, and we have been maintaining contacts at a high political level. There has been upward momentum in our economic ties, including both trade and investment. In fact, mutual investment has been on the rise.
Let me note that Russia has been investing significantly more in the United Arab Emirates than vice versa. In fact, our investment is almost double the amount invested by the UAE here. That said, we recognise that your sovereign wealth fund and the Russian Direct Investment Fund have been quite effective in forging closer ties. Thank you for trusting Russian specialists in investment. We keep a close eye on this sector, which has been delivering tangible results.
Humanitarian cooperation between our two countries has been good too. I am referring to our contacts in education and culture. I know that you have been interested in Sirius, our Sochi-based centre for talented youth, and how this operates. It has come to the attention of your family members who travelled to Sirius. I do hope that we will make further strides in developing our relations along this track.
Of course, we should exchange views on regional developments and international security during today’s meeting. Our two countries have been proactive in working together in various formats, starting with the United Nations, and the UAE has recently joined BRICS as a full participant. The UAE has also signed a trade agreement with the EAEU, which I believe contains a positive decision on 85% of our bilateral traded product categories, with many customs duties reduced to zero.”
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan replied “Relations between our two countries have been gathering momentum in recent years. We are pleased with the way these relations have been developing in their current form. Trade between Russia and the United Arab Emirates has reached US$11.5 billion. In terms of our trade with EAEU countries, this figure has reached US$30 billion. We would like these results to double within the next five years, both in terms of our bilateral trade and our relations with the EAEU countries.”
The UAE-EAEU trade agreement was signed off by Russian Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov and UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi on Wednesday (August 6). The EAEU includes Russia along with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan and fills a geographic space between eastern Europe and western China.
Reshetnikov said that “The agreement will give a fresh impetus to the positive and mutually advantageous cooperation between Russia and the UAE. It will promote broader bilateral trade and economic cooperation through trade in services, trade diversification, and bolstered cooperative ties. There will be no restrictions on operations of Russian service suppliers and investors in areas as computer services, research and development, technical testing, technical consulting, computer backup in air transport, repair of ships and aircraft, rail transport, management, educational and legal services. Russian companies will be guaranteed the possibility of opening subsidiary banks, healthcare establishments and news agencies with 100% Russian capital in specialized free areas of the UAE.
It applies to a vast range of products in our trade, and the key task for 2030 is to increase trade volumes by 40%. Another important step to help achieve this goal is today’s agreement on free trade in services. The UAE market, the market of services to be exact, traditionally has rather strong protection by barriers. By today’s agreement, the UAE opens 64 sectors and sub-sectors to our services industry. It also unlocks the insurance sector, which is highly relevant to us, considering its relation to maritime and air transport services.
At the same time, the Russian Federation has opened its markets to UAE companies in 12 sectors, those related to aircraft leasing and services, meaning boosting trade. Trade in services accounts for almost US$14 billion in our bilateral turnover. This is a highly significant number, and we are also hoping to double it roughly by 2030-2031.”
The liberalisation of the UAE finance and insurance industry sectors to Russian investors is a significant development considering the western sanctions Russia has been subjected to in precisely these areas. It will help accelerate alternative financial flows between Russia and Asia and may assist alleviate the re-insurance sector in shipping. The EU is particular has been targeting Russian ships with sanctions. The overall services sector – which is considerable in the UAE, will also be of interest to numerous Russian investors, including in the professional services industry as well as the logistics sector. This will also help with trade development with Iran, UAE’s neighbour, itself a full BRICS partner with an EAEU free trade agreement.
Russia and the UAE are also working on developing their mutual aviation and maritime transport sectors. The UAE is a key part of the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) and facilitates freight transit between Russia, the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia.
In air passenger traffic, Russia’s Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin said “Air transport levels grow every year, and we already see this year’s statistics exceeding last year’s by about 20%-25%, anticipating another annual record. Expectations are very positive. If we agree and open several more Russian airports to Emirati airlines, these statistics will only improve.”
A total of 1.35 million passengers were transported between the countries in 2024, while nearly 750,000 were carried in 5M 2025.
Russia and the UAE are also working on maritime transport, with improvements to the regulatory framework in this sector ongoing.
Further Reading
