Page 47 - IRANRptAug19

serves as the country’s national censor and sets subsidy levels for newspapers and print companies.
Salehi reportedly said that the price of paper for the previous year was set at IRR42,000 per kilogram, adding: "This year, we are again trying to prevent paper price rises and help book publishers.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visited the book fair and urged the ministries to alleviate the pressure on traditional publishers.
Despite the government’s efforts, many Iranian publishers have been forced into the private market to purchase paper in bulk. The price of paper in the non-regulated market is several times higher than the stated government price.
Iraq’s Electricity Minister Luay al-Khateeb has said his country needs “at least three years” to remove Iranian energy supplies from its electricity and gas imports mix, Iraqi news channel IMN reported on May 7.
Iraq is heavily dependent on Iran for not only energy but also food and construction commodities like cement. Baghdad is under heavy pressure from the US to quickly curtail the amount of business it does with the Iranians to get in line with Washington’s sanctions regime directed at Tehran, but many requests received from the US regarding Iranian trade are regarded as non-starters with the Iraqis and Kurdistan officials.
Of Iraq’s neighbours, Iran has the most extensive land border with the country. Tehran also has major influence on Iraqi politics.
Al-Khateeb said Iraq would need at least two or three years to achieve self-sufficiency in electricity production.
“Iraq has told the Americans it currently needs to import gas and electricity from Iran,” the minister said, adding: “Iraq is importing close to 1,200 megawatts of electricity as well as gas for generating 2,800 megawatts of electricity.”
9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.1 Oil & gas corporate news
The US has targeted Iran’s petrochemical industry with new sanctions announced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on June 7.
There have been reports that the US is finding it more difficult to close loopholes in preventing lucrative exports by the Iranian petrochemical industry than it is when it comes to stopping shipments of crude oil from Iran, which since the start of last month it has been attempting to force to zero.
The new sanctions target entities including Iran’s biggest petrochemical holding group, Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), which the US Treasury Department says supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
PGPIC has been added to the sanctions list for providing financial support to the economic arm of the IRGC. The Treasury also designated the holding group’s network of 39 subsidiary petrochemical companies and foreign-based sales agents. PGPIC and its subsidiaries account for 40% of Iran’s petrochemical production capacity. They are also responsible for 50% of Iran’s total petrochemical exports, the Treasury said.
“By targeting this network we intend to deny funding to key elements of Iran’s petrochemical sector that provide support to the IRGC,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
The Treasury statement added that Iran’s oil ministry last year awarded the
47 IRAN Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com