Tehran, Iran, May 4
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Germany's Siemens have reached new agreements for work in Iran.
It has been agreed that Siemens and OTC will jointly register a company in Iran which would be producing new turbines and turbo-compressors, NIOC chief Riknoddin Javadi said, Shana news agency reported May 4.
He said the agreement includes renovating the Iranian oil industry's rotating machines as well as investing in the production of new machinery in the uptream section, and also stretching oil pipelines.
Iran's oil industry has grown old and deficient due to years-long sanctions that were lifted just this year.
The agreement was made during a meeting between the two sides in Tehran. Siemens is part of a large German business delegation now in Tehran, led by Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy Uwek Beckmeyer.
Javadi also said that the German side has expressed hope to be able to provide an insurance coverage of €5.5 billion for Iranian projects.
"The most important topic that was discussed during the meetings was banking problems. The German companies said mid-size German banks have started relations with Iran and expressed hope that other banks will join as well," he added.
Many foreign banks still do not dare work with Iran despite the removal of sanctions, having in mind heavy punishments that some banks suffered for doing business with the Islamic Republic under sanctions.