Iran, Russia to sign gas swap agreement in near future

Owji made the remarks referring to his meeting with Igor Yevgenyevich Levitin, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation.

Saying that some negotiations were held following previous agreements in the field of energy and rail transportation, Owji added, “In the transportation sector, discussions were held regarding the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway line and the electrification of the  Garmsar-Inche Burun railway line.”

He added that the financing obligations will be made by Russian banks, and since the senior aide to the Russian president has full authority, these projects will be operational soon.

Referring to the signing of a 40 billion dollar memorandum of understanding with large Russian companies, Owji noted, “These include memorandums and contracts; Now we have a contract with Russia for the development of seven oil and gas fields, which have a progress of between 10% and 30%, and negotiations are underway for 14 other fields.”

“The purchase and swap of gas from Russia has been finalized and will be signed in the near future in Moscow between the National Iranian Gas Company and the Russian side; Negotiations were also held regarding the swap of petroleum products; Iran has many capacities in the field of the sea, railway and land transportation for the development of swap,” he stressed.

He went on to say that the meeting of the Iran-Russia joint commission will be held in 2 months in Moscow, and negotiations will continue on various issues, including energy, transportation, trade, and even sports.

Referring to the fact that Russia will finance 5 billion euros in Iran’s projects and plans, he continued, “2.5 billion euros have been assigned and are even being implemented in power plant projects. For the rest of this amount, we also defined the plans, whose contracts will be signed.”

Emphasizing that the cooperation between Iran and Russia in the field of energy is not one-sided and that Iranian companies have great potency, the Iranian oil minister added that in the petrochemical industry, contracts for products and catalysts have been signed and the export of petrochemical catalysts to Russia has also started.

“Another issue emphasized in the signing of the memorandum with Russia is the discussion of increasing the pressure in the South Pars Gas Field because the Russians have good capabilities in this field,” he said elsewhere in his remarks.

Another challenge is the provision of financial resources, which Russian companies agreed to provide financial resources in the seven fields, according to Owji.