Page 15 - DMEA Week 45

DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA

Iran judiciary frees up €14.5bn in forex

mostly held by petchem exporters

IRAN A spokesperson for Iran’s judiciary has said that their foreign exchange obligations, and a total of
his department with the Central Bank of Iran €14.5bn of foreign exchange due to exports has
(CBI) have released €14.5bn in foreign currency been released.”
held primarily by petrochemical exporters, The Iranian government has been urging the
IRNA reported on November 10. judiciary to prosecute offending exporters, with
Large exporters have become a concern for several billion more dollars still unaccounted for
Iranian authorities in recent years, not releasing despite ongoing investigations.
their accrued foreign currencies to the desig- CBI chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said in
nated NIMA forex market as dictated in a 2018 July that the Iranian judiciary would summon
decree by the CBI. The judiciary has been tasked exporters who had held onto their hard cash
by the country’s supreme leader’s office to inves- reserves and not transferred them into the offi-
tigate people and companies profiteering in the cial exchange mechanism.
forex markets while the country’s rial (IRR) The judiciary has mercilessly chased after
continues to tank. Since introducing the special several sectors who have profited from the mis-
courts, several high-ranking officials and CEOs fortune of the country’s economic situation in
have been sent to trial, with several of them sen- recent years.
tenced to death in recent years. One of the highest-profile cases of economic
Judiciary spokesperson Gholamhossein manipulation came in the case of a gold dealer
Esmaeili said of 250 foreign exchange export- dubbed the “Sultan of Sovereigns” by Iranian
ers: “With the good co-operation of the Central media in 2018.
Bank, the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office and the Vahid Mazloumin and another member of
judiciary, they have released more than €11bn of his currency trading network both received the
foreign exchange from petrochemical exports.” death penalty after hoarding some two tonnes
The spokesman for the judiciary added: of gold coins to manipulate prices, the Iranian
“Serious follow-ups have been carried out on Students’ News Agency reported on November
other complaints and more than three and a half 14, 2018. They were found guilty of “spreading
billion euros of such people have been relieved of corruption on earth”, a capital offence.™

Week 45 12•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15