Baku, Azerbaijan, April 24
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Morad Majlesi has been appointed head of a joint venture between Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO) and French PSA Peugeot Citroen.
According to the terms of a contract between Iran Khodro and Peugeot, the head of the Iranian-French joint venture will be appointed for two years, ILNA news agency reported.
Each company periodically will be in charge of chairing the joint venture for a term of two years, the report added.
The contract which envisages the export of 30 percent of its products was among the first post-sanctions contracts signed between an Iranian company and a foreign company during Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's January visit to France.
The deal also envisages the production of three models of Peugeot in Iran through 50-50 venture.
Iran-Khodro has been manufacturing two models of Peugeot for several years, so that these two models have become prototypical cars in the minds of many Iranians.
The company started manufacturing Peugeot 405 since 2000. The production still continues. A few years later it added Peugeot 206 to its products, which is also still being manufactured. The Iranian "national vehicle" Samand is also a reshaped Peugeot 405.
Peugeot left Iran in 2011 following the Western imposed sanctions on Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.
Iran Khodro officials say that the company has set punitive contracts for the French company for halting its activity in Iran. According to Iran, Khodro Peugeot is obliged to pay 200 million euros in compensation.