The agreements on free trade areas signed between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the United Arab Emirates, Mongolia, and Indonesia last year are currently undergoing ratification procedures and are expected to enter into effect in 2026, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said.
"The ratification procedures in relation to the Emirates, Mongolia, and Indonesia are currently underway. Today we think that we have facilitated the access of our commodity producers to a market comprising about 730,000 million people. It is already a very serious number. And we hope that these agreements will start operating within about a year," he said.
A full-scale agreement on a free trade area with Iran and the EAEU, which was signed in late 2023, entered into effect in 2025, he said.
Talks on a free trade area with India were launched last year. Overchuk refrained from making any forecast as to when the parties could approach its signing. "In this case, it is perhaps too early to talk about some specific deadlines, it's important that these talks are ongoing and it is evident that the negotiating team is optimistic," he said.
India is actively negotiating establishing free trade areas with other regions, including the European Union, he said. "We're also looking into these issues and how it affects each other, it is also a subject of study for the negotiating teams," Overchuk said when asked how the agreements between India and the EU would impact the prospects of the country signing a free trade area agreement with the EAEU.

Published Date:2026-02-05