Russia’s VTB Bank To Open Full Banking Services In Iran

Russia’s VTB bank plans to open a full-fledged subsidiary bank in Iran by the end of 2025, the bank’s President and Board Chairman Andrei Kostin has stated. VTB opened a representative office in Iran in 2023. Kostin said that “We plan to open a full-service bank by the end of this year. VTB will be the first Russian bank to enter the Iranian financial market, and expect to be granted permission by the end of the year. We currently have a representative office that we opened in October 2023. We are currently transforming it into a full-fledged bank.”

Both Russia and Iran are blocked from the global SWIFT banking network but connected their own respective financial messaging systems last year. They have also de-dollarized their bilateral trade to the extent that 96% of all bilateral transactions are now conducted in either Russian Rubles or Iranian Rials, both themselves ‘Petro-Currencies’. Russia closely aligns its petroleum industry with OPEC – Iran being a leading member of the OPEC group.

Russia-Iran bilateral trade has also been growing and expanded by 17% in 2024 to reach about US$4.52 billion. Initial plans are to develop this to US$10 billion by 2030. That goal is almost certain to be reached given the improved bilateral and infrastructure interconnectivity, and other pending agreements that would boost trade. Iran joined the BRICS as a full member in 2024, signed a 20-year Strategic Partnership Cooperation Treaty with Russia last week and is currently in the process of negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union that would, when implemented, reduce tariffs on Iranian goods as well as those from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.