Page 47 - IRANRptSep19

bpd from its share of the Pars Dome, which Doha calls the North Field. Gholamreza Manouchehri, the former deputy head of NIOC, was quoted by Mehr News Agency last week as saying: “We are looking for a competent contractor who can make a commitment to production. Iranian companies are interested in getting money and digging wells. We are looking for cumulative production.”
NIOC has a target of producing 150,000 bpd from the currently producing reservoir.
9.2.2 Automotive corporate news
Largest Iranian carmaker Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) has announced that ex-deputy industries minister Farshad Moghimi has been appointed as its CEO, Mehr News Agency repoted on August 26.
Previous CEO Hesham Yekkeh Zare was arrested and fired from his position on August 19 after allegations of corruption were levelled against him. He vehemently denied the claims.
Moghimi, a stalwart of the Islamic Republic, is more likely to bend to the whims of the government, including diktats on pricing. He is also a board member of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organisation (IDRO). Previously, Moghimi was a deputy of the Small Industries Guild.
He is a graduate of the Iran University of Science and Technology while he is currently defending his PhD from Tehran Azad University in industrial engineering.
Abbas Aliabadi was announced as the upcoming new IKCO chief executive on August 20 but the 57-year-old Aliabadi, who previously headed the privately-owned MAPNA Group which works for engineering firms, turned down the job offer for unspecified reasons.
Former CEO Yekkeh Zare came to blows with lobby groups interested in keeping prices of cars down to save face with the depleting spending power of Iranians. His decision to ignore government proposals to keep a lid on prices and to instead increase them ultimately cost the long-serving company official his role and freedom.
Yeke Zareh’s arrest comes only a few weeks since he proudly presented the first locally assembled Peugeot 301 sedan.
The model produced by IKCO reportedly sources 60% of its parts from Iranian manufacturers, with the percentage expected to increase to 85% in the next few months.
Yekke Zareh said IKCO planned to begin mass production of the Peugeot 301 after the end of the current Iranian calendar year in March, adding that the company had directed €60mn worth of investment into the project.
In May, the Iranian-backed Azermash automaking joint venture in Azerbaijan said production of the new Peugeot 207 would begin at its plant in Neftchala Industrial Zone in the summer.
9.2.3 Aviation corporate news
Airbus's director of public relations said on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show 2019 that Iran’s big orders for aircraft from the company have not been cancelled, IRNA has reported.
Justin Dubon said the hope was the multi-billion-euro orders for new jets placed by Iran’s flag carrier IranAir and other Iranian carriers would be fulfilled once US sanctions did not preclude delivery. The sanctions hit both Boeing and Airbus when it came to business with Iran because they also cover aircraft
47 IRAN Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com