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company’s withdrawal will not have a considerable impact on the country’s tourism industry or on the number of foreign tourists visiting Iran.
As things stand, no foreign company will be able work with Iranian hotels, leaving only a handful of local operators who have foreign subsidiaries to address the required work.
9.2.6 Metallurgy & mining corporate news
New US sanctions on Tehran have led to Russian steelmakers Severstal and MMK along with the ArcelorMittal’s plant in Temirtau, Kazakhstan to start scaling down sales of hot-rolled steel coils to Iran, steel traders told Reuters on July 17. Imports of Russian and Kazakh hot-rolled steel coils only make up a small part of Iranian consumption and could be easily replaced - however, the development shows that US sanctions are affecting Russian companies despite Moscow’s protestations that the sanctions would not impact Russian exports to Iran.
MMK now plans to decide its fate in November, when the dust has settled on a wave of protectionist measures introduced by the US and Europe in recent months. “We hope that by that point, the transformation on global markets will have ended and there will be clarity,” Andrey Eremin, the company’s director for economics, was quoted as saying.
9.2.7 Renewable energy corporate news
Russian engineering and heavy machinery major Power Machines (Silovii Machini) of metals tycoon Alexei Mordashov will supply turbines for a Russian state order on the thermal power plant in Iran's Hormozgan province for €171.7mn, Vedomosti d aily reported on July 31.
Reportedly the deal should be closed by the end of summer, despite another bidder, Urals Turbine Factory, making a cheaper proposal of €164mn for the construction of four turbines of 350MW each in the next three and a half years. The turbines are ordered by TekhnoPromExport, controlled by Evgeny Giner (65%) and state technology agency Rostec (35%). Analysts surveyed by Vedomosti say Power Machines can deliver the turbines on time, having produced 3.6GW worth of equipment in 2017 for RUB25bn ($4.1bn).
Chinese and Italian investors plan to invest in a new solar power plant in Iran, despite impending US sanctions coming into force from August, Mehr News Agency reported on July 8. Several agreements have been signed by European, Asian and African solar panel firms in recent years as the Iranian government offers a 10-year tax break for investors in the sector. Recently one such new development popped up for sale on social media without the firm’s name being announced. The deal was signed by representatives of Sino Steel Corporation and Italy’s Denikon Company at the Yazd Investment Services Centre. As part of the contract, the Italian and Chinese companies will construct a solar power plant of 500 to 1,000 megawatts and a solar panel factory.
Denikon is tasked with identifying, promoting and developing international investment opportunities. State-owned Sino Steel, active in the fields of mines, metals, power plants and transport, has so far invested $2.5bn in Iran’s solar power industry.
In late May, Pars Reys Energy Bahar (PREB), a subsidiary of French energy firm Hanau Energies Group, announced the completion of an 8.5 megawatt
52 IRAN Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com