Afghan and Russian private-sector companies have signed 15 memorandums of understanding on economic cooperation worth $103 million, the Afghan government said late on Thursday.

Source: Reuters (syndicated wire)

The MoUs cover the import of medicines, wheat, flour and cooking oil into Afghanistan, the export of fresh fruits to Russia, and the expansion of bilateral trade relations, the government said in a statement reported by the Reuters-syndicated wire.

Source: Reuters (syndicated wire)

The Baradar-Overchuk meeting

The signings came during a Kabul meeting between Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk and Afghanistan's Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Baradar said Afghanistan is ready to welcome Russian companies to invest in partnership with local businesses in mineral extraction, establishing and expanding industrial factories, developing infrastructure and creating special economic zones, Heart of Asia reported.

Source: Heart of Asia

"We are seeking to increase bilateral trade to the maximum possible level, in line with the economic capacities of both countries," Baradar said, according to Heart of Asia. He also identified industrial parks built to international standards, joint special economic zones, dry ports and trade infrastructure as areas for joint investment, and cited a workforce of approximately 24 million people of working age.

Source: Heart of Asia

Overchuk proposed that Afghanistan establish cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Commission, according to reporting of the Kabul Information Ministry's account of the meeting. A Russian delegation of more than 70 business representatives accompanied the visit, according to regional reporting of the delegation's arrival.

Source: Reuters (syndicated wire)

A bigger intergovernmental deal is also being prepared

Russia and Afghanistan are also preparing a large-scale intergovernmental agreement on trade and economic cooperation, Rustam Khabibullin, head of the Russian Business Center in Afghanistan, told Sputnik ahead of the visit. He said the agreement provides for cooperation in trade, energy, transport, healthcare, agriculture and information technology, and covers logistics, investment and simplified business visas.

Source: Sputnik

Background: trade has been climbing, from a low base

At an October 6 meeting in Moscow between Overchuk and Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, the two sides discussed trade, energy and investment cooperation and transport connectivity under the International North-South Transport Corridor, Interfax reported. Mutual trade turnover in the first seven months of 2026 increased 2.5-fold compared with the same period last year, Interfax said, citing the meeting.

Source: Interfax

Russia formally recognised the Taliban administration in July 2025, becoming the first country to take that step since the group returned to power in August 2021, and it remains the only country to have done so. Thursday's deals are memorandums of understanding, not final investment contracts: whether they turn into operating projects will depend on financing, banking channels and commercial agreements that have not yet been announced.

Source: Heart of Asia

What happens next

The next test is implementation: the food, medicine and fruit trade covered by the 15 MoUs can move through existing channels, while the mining, industrial-park and fertiliser ideas discussed in Kabul need detailed contracts. The prepared intergovernmental agreement, if signed, would give the private-sector pacts an official framework. No signing date for that agreement was announced in the reports.

Source: Sputnik