Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Iran is negotiating with Russia on bartering Russian goods for Iranian petrochemicals, said Ahmad Mahdavi, secretary of the association of Iranian petrochemical industries union.
Over recent weeks, a couple of Iranian and Russian delegations have traveled to Tehran and Moscow, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Mahdavi as saying July 24.
Russia has recently put in a request for starting barter of Iranian petrochemical products with Russian goods, he said, adding that Russian companies have announced readiness to import urea, methanol, and polymer products from Iran.
"Russia has also requested to buy petrochemicals from Iran and selling the products to other European countries, especially to Eastern Europe," he said.
"Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus region are among destinations for Iranian petrochemical products. Even after lifting of sanctions and resuming exports to Europe, exports of petrochemicals to China, India, Central and Eastern Asia will not be reduced," he added.
Mahdavi said on July 13 that Iran has prepared a special plan to export petrochemical products to North America, and even to the US, once sanctions against the Islamic Republic are lifted.
Exporting petrochemical products to South America and Africa is also on the agenda, he added.
Mahdavi said in April that Iran plans to export $5 billion worth of petrochemicals to Europe if the sanctions imposed on the country over its nuclear program are lifted.
Before the imposition of the sanctions, Iran used to export some $2 billion of petrochemicals to Europe annually, he added.
Edited by CN