Iran’s Ambassador to Russia believes purchase of Solyanka Port was a big and important job which was done by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) and it is one of the safest ways for broadening ties with Russia.
TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Ambassador to Russia believes purchase of Solyanka Port was a big and important job which was done by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL) and it is one of the safest ways for broadening ties with Russia.
Kazem Jalali said that IRISL by purchasing Solyanka Port it took control of 53% of the shares of the port and it was a good and effective action by the IRISL because Solyanka Port is one of the best and active ports of Russia.
Jalali who was talking on the sideline of the TransRussia Exhibition in Moscow noted that the relation between Tehran and Russia is growing day in day and fortunately the trade between the two states has grown considerably.
He noted that Iran’s trade with Russia was $1.65b in 2019 but today according to the statistics it has increased to $5b although he believes the figure is more than this because some of Iranian goods are exported to Russia via Aktau Port of Kazakhstan.
Jalali added that since Russia is under the sanctions of the West and its connection with the West has been cut its relation with Iran is very important especially Russia through its Saint Saint Petersburg and its other sea routes used to export 300m tons of goods to Europe annually and now this amount is to be transported via Turkey and Iran, and Russia expects to transit at least 50m tons of its goods via Iran.
He further said that currently Russia can transit around 8m tons of goods via Iran and it needs round-the-clock efforts to increase this capacity and actions of some companies like IRISL can be a solution for this problem for transport of goods via the North-South Corridor.
He reiterated during the current Ukraine crisis, Iran can be a safe hub for imports and exports of Russia.