Iranian Business Announcements

 

From the Iran News Roundups of the

Critical Threats Project at AEI

(Click on date for full round-up)

 

28 AUG 2015:  Austrian president to visit Iran in September. Austrian President Heinz Fischer will visit Iran from September 7-9 to discuss expanding bilateral ties and regional and international developments. Austrian businessmen and trade companies will accompany Fischer to explore business and trade opportunities. (Fars News Agency) (E)

 

27 AUG 2015:  Iran to offer oil, gas fields to investors. Iran will offer projects to foreign investors for extracting oil from the South Pars gas field as well as three other gas fields at an upcoming London conference in December. Nearly 50 projects will be put up for investment under the Iran Petroleum Contract (IPC) model, according to Managing Director of Pars Oil and Gas Company Ali Akbar Shabanpour. (Press TV) (E)

 

26 AUG 2015:  Russian and Iranian companies sign MOU to build satellite systems. Two Russian space companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bonyan Danesh Shargh to “create Iran’s own satellite observation system.” Russian company NPK BARL will “be in charge of building the system’s ground infrastructure,” while Russian Company VNIIEM will be responsible for the “building and launching [of] the satellites.” VNIIEM Corporation CEO Leonid Makridenko stated, “The launch on a Russian Soyuz carrier rocket is tentatively scheduled for 2018.” (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

 

24 AUG 2015:  Iranian banks to reopen UK branches. Valiollah Seif told reporters after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond that the UK branches of two of the four Iranian banks in Britain- Bank Melli and Persian International Bank- will reopen. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Head added that the British want to invest in Iran’s stock market and reopen their banks in Iran as well. (Mehr News) (E)

 

18 AUG 2015:  French company makes offer to purchase associated gas from Forouzan oil fields. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announced that a French company has offered to purchase associated gas from the Forouzan oil wells in the Persian Gulf in order to convert it into liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The French company’s offer will reduce the amount of flaring - the environmentally damaging process of burning off natural gas mid-production - at the Forouzan oil fields by one-fourth. (Press TV) (E)

 

14 AUG 2015:  • Russian bank eyes aircraft sales to Iran. The acting general director of Sberbank Leasing Zao, a subsidiary of Russian bank Sberbank, announced on August 13 his interest in exporting Superjet International passenger planes to Iran. He added that aircraft exports to Iran will begin as soon as sanctions are removed. (Press TV) (E)

 

21 AUG 2015:  Russia to deliver fuel to the Bushehr plant. TVEL, a subsidiary of Russia's nuclear energy company Rosatom, stated that "it will deliver fresh nuclear fuel" to the Bushehr power plant. The TVEL statement also mentioned that the fresh fuel loading is "scheduled for September" and will be conducted in "the presence of international experts during a planned maintenance of the plant." (Press TV) (E)

 

12 AUG 2015: • Iranian and Spanish companies sign MOU on power generation projects. Iran's electrical products company Sunir and the Spanish firm Bester Generation signed an MOU on implementing power generation projects worth $250 million in Chile and Mexico." (Press TV) (E)

 

5 AUG 2015: • German and Italian port operators agree to resume trade with Iranian port company. Contship Italia, an Italian company specializing in container terminal logistics, and Eurogate, a leading German container terminal operator, signed an MoU with Sina Port and Maritime Company to resume trade after sanctions are lifted. The memorandum includes plans to develop Iranian ports as well as exchange experience and technical expertise. The sanctioned Sina Port and Maritime Company operates major ports in Bandar Abbas and Bushehr. (Press TV) (E) (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

 

3 AUG 2015:  • German investors to establish new bank in Iran. Iran Central Bank Head Valiollah Seif said that a recent German economic delegation agreed to launch a bank in Iran. (Tasnim News Agency) (E)

 

30 JUL 2015: • Zanganeh: "New chapter" with French energy company. Bijan Zanganeh announced, "A new chapter will open in cooperation with France's Total [in the] development of Iran's oil fields." The Oil Minister added that French companies also have a “broad presence in Iran’s petrochemical industry besides continuing their past activities which were mostly providing investment and finance." (Press TV) (E)

 

30 JUL 2015: • Apple's exclusive license is now valid. Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Mehdi Karbasian stated that there have been talks with Apple Company in order to create an exclusive deal for electronic products. He stated that a preliminary search into Apple's documents indicated that their license was not valid, but Karbasian confirmed that the proper license has been issued to Apple. (Entekhab)

 

29 JUL 2015:  • Iran automaker to sign deal with Mercedes-Benz. The head of Iran's leading automaker, Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO), said that a deal with Mercedes Benz is expected "soon." A five-year deal will be allow for the distribution of Mercedes’ cars in Iran, while a ten-year deal is expected "for [the] production of commercial vehicles." (Press TV) (E)

 

24 JUL 2015:  • Iranian and Austrian firms agree to co-produce low-consumption automotive engine. On the sidelines of the Iran-EU trade and investment conference in Vienna, four Iranian and European companies signed a 110 million euro deal for the production of low-consumption Euro 6 engines. TUVPR stated “With the launch of the production line of this power train family and its application in local vehicles, up to 15 billion liters of fuel will be saved with the production of four million cars in the next 10 years.” (Press TV) (E)

 

17 JUL 2015:  • India plans on building an aluminum smelter complex in Iran. India's National Aluminum Company (NALCO) is “strongly” considering plans to build a $3 billion aluminum smelter complex in Iran. In 2014, the company purportedly decided to wait “for the removal of sanctions” to continue its plans for the complex. (Press TV) (E)

 

17 JUL 2015:  • Russia and Iran reportedly negotiating delivery of Sukhoi Superjets. Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said that “Russia and Iran are negotiating the supply of Russian passenger planes Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Iran.” According to Russian news outlet RIA Novosti, “It is profitable to offer not just the Superjets but also other vehicles and machinery, as it raises certain interest in our Iranian colleagues.” (IRNA)

 

16 JUL 2015:  • Iran and Italy establish a joint car design company. Iranian car manufacturers Iran Khodro and Tisser signed a trilateral agreement with Italian car designer BDI to establish an Iran-Italy joint car design corporation. Cars produced by the corporation will be exported globally, especially to European markets. (IRNA) (E)

 

16 JUL 2015:  • Apple considers entering the Iranian market. A Wall Street Journal report stated that Apple is engaging in talks about possibly distributing its products to Iran. The article added that Apple is considering deals with resellers and local distributors because “this way, Apple could play it safe and [get] its business going without having to invest too heavily in Iran.” (Press TV) (E)

 

14 JUL 2015:  • Iran postal service signs MOU with DHL and TNT. The Islamic Republic of Iran Post Company signed an MOU for cooperation with German logistics firm DHL and Dutch express and logistics services firm TNT. Under the agreement, Iran Post Company will collect parcels on behalf of DHL and TNT, and then forward them to DHL and TNT for delivery outside of Iran to reduce shipping time. (ISNA) (E)