Tehran, Iran, December 20
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
An Iranian holding company which covers a vast area of activity from steel to oil equipment and wholesale says it is looking forward to booming relations with Russian partners.
“We recently launched a trade company in Russia named Sadidros, of which I am the CEO. There are chain stores which would like to have Iranian things on their shelves. We can set up good trade since, for example Russia needs Iranian made cement and Iran in return needs steel sheets made in Russia.”
“Another of our companies Tasdid makes offshore equipment and platforms. Gazprom has come to Iran and is picking projects. So they can work with us,” he said.
“Russia has been working intensely to ease trade with Iran. Now visas are issued much more easily. Registering companies in Russia is also much easier. We have held talks on ship building as well.”
“The problem is that we have not had good trade with Russia, with the result that now for example good transport infrastructure is lacking. There are no containers which would condition the air for above or below 0 degrees Celsius, so we may have good products, but they may freeze and go bad,” Kaveh noted.
“What I know is that Iran Russia relations are strategic and they are working on a 50 year cooperation plan.”
Many agreements have been made between Iran and Russia to improve mutual trade, but steps are yet needed to turn them into action, an Iran-Russia trade official told Trend December 13.
"Currently the two governments enjoy close ties, but the trade turnover is not keeping up. We need to operationalize agreements that have been made between the two countries," Hadi Tizhoosh Taban, deputy chairman of the Iran-Russia Chamber of Commerce said.
"Problems still exist, especially regarding visa and tariffs," he underlined.
"We hope to be able to meet each other more and introduce our capacities and available services that we can offer."
Trade turnover between Iran and Russia jumped by 80 percent in 2016, however the total amount was scanty, officials said. According to Iranian sources, in the first seven months of the current Iranian year (since March 20), Iran exported worth $86.5 million goods to Russia.