Afghanistan became the largest importer of Russian flour last year as it doubled purchases, Russia's state agricultural export agency, Agroexport, said late on Friday.

Afghanistan imports flour as it does not have enough production capacity to fully meet domestic demand, Reuters reported.

The increase in imports came as Russia sought to foster ties with Afghanistan's rulers.

Last month, Moscow moved a step closer towards recognising the Islamic Emirate government, with Russia's parliament voting in favour of a law that would make it possible to remove the Islamic Emirate from a list of banned terrorist organisations, read the report.

Agroexport, citing preliminary estimates, said Afghanistan bought Russian flour worth almost $80 million last year, double the 2023 level.

Russia's total wheat and wheat-rye flour exports reached $300 million last year, up 3% year on year in value terms and 7% more by volume, according to the watchdog.

China and Turkmenistan were also in the top three buyers of Russian flour, it said.

China's first railway transit consignment to Afghanistan via Iran, carrying 1,000 tons of iron coil, arrived at Roznak station in Herat province, the Ministry of Public Works said on Friday.

The consignment, which started its journey from China, arrived in Afghanistan via Iran's railway network, Public Works Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ashraf Haqshenas said in a statement.

"The transportation of cargo through this route is an important step in the development of Afghanistan's transit links and connection to open waters and represents progress in the field of regional transport and transit," he said.

Haqshenas added that the completion of the Khaf-Herat railway would offer new potentials for Afghanistan's economy and create a good platform for expanding trade and transit in the region.

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other digital currencies in international payments following legislative changes that allowed such use in order to counter Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Sanctions have complicated Russia's trade with its major partners such as China or Turkey, as local banks are extremely cautious with Russia-related transactions to avoid scrutiny from Western regulators, Reuters reported.

This year, Russia permitted the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to make it legal to mine cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. Russia is one of the global leaders in bitcoin mining.

"As part of the experimental regime, it is possible to use bitcoins, which we had mined here in Russia (in foreign trade transactions)," Siluanov told Russia 24 television channel.

"Such transactions are already occurring. We believe they should be expanded and developed further. I am confident this will happen next year," he said, adding that international payments in digital currencies represent the future.

Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that the current U.S. administration was undermining the role of the U.S dollar as the reserve currency by using it for political purposes, forcing many countries to turn to alternative assets, Reuters reported.

He singled out bitcoin as an example of such assets, saying that no-one in the world could regulate bitcoin. Putin's remarks indicated that the Russian leader backs the extensive use of cryptocurrencies.