Page 46 - IRANRptOct19

responding to Iran’s payment stoppage, and basmati prices shed Rs 10 a kg or 12 percent the past one month,” said Sushil Jain, vice president of the All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA).
Quoted sources in India suggested that Iranian buyers placed orders for INR18bn ($2mn) of basmati rice but then failed to find the mechanisms to pay for the shipments despite money remaining in bank accounts in India from previous Iranian crude oil sales to the country.
Iran is the largest buyer of basmati rice, accounting for nearly one-quarter of India’s annual exports of the food item.
Azerbaijan’s Food Safety Agency said it returned 400 tonnes of potatoes and kiwis back to Iran and Georgia over pest fears, according to Trend News Agency on July 9.
Growing exports from Iran to Caucasian countries are getting a mixed reception, with some exports not meeting quarantine and hygiene levels.
In the report, FSA said, “[the] Agency has returned 400 tonnes of potatoes and kiwis to Iran and Georgia due to the danger of the spread of pests that are subject to quarantine measures.”
The chairman of the organisation Goshgar Tahmazli said at the anniversary of the organisation’s first anniversary that it is increasing its oversight of imports from neighbouring countries.
The head of the agency noted that 255 tonnes of products were destroyed, and 838 tonnes of foodstuffs were neutralised and cleaned by various methods.
The Azeri report follows that of a similar return from neighbouring Dagestan, where which reported Iranian and Azeri produce being returned to senders. The Rosselkhoznadzor​ ​Office Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance​ in the Republic of Dagestan reportedly said both Iranian and Azerbaijani products had arrived without proper import documentation were returned to the exporters due to quarantine issues.
Some 119,000 tonnes of tomatoes, 108,000 tonnes of sweet cherries and 11.73 tonnes of bell peppers were sent back over the border in one episode.
9.1.7​ Property sector news
Iranians are snapping up property in neighbouring Turkey at a very fast rate, according to a September 18 ​report​ from Radio Farda.
Iranian citizens have bought 3,135 residential units in Turkey during the past eight months, up 89% compared to 2018 and 640% compared with 2017, data obtained from Turkey’s national statistics agency TUIK reportedly shows. Currently, only Iraqis are ahead of Iranians for property purchases in Turkey. The past eight months has seen Turkey sell 28,000 residential units to foreigners in all, 55% up year on year.
Among factors prompting Iranians to buy Turkish property is the big advantage real estate ownership gives them when it comes to applying for Turkish citizenship. Having obtained such citizenship, Iranians who presently find it difficult or impossible to run import-export businesses in Iran because of heavy US sanctions can switch their enterprises to Turkey.
The collapse of the Iranian rial (IRR) in the face of sanctions has also seen Iranians turn to Turkey as a "safe haven" for investing their money.
Iran’s residential rental market has reached its breaking point, with tenants unable to afford price hikes any longer, according to an Iranian real estate expert cited by IRNA.
46​ IRAN Country Report​ October 2019 www.intellinews.com