Page 52 - IRANRptNov18

9.2.3 Transport corporate news
Greece’s low-cost airline Aegean Airlines has become the latest carrier to announce that it is withdrawing from Iran in the face of sanctions reimposed against Tehran by the US. The airline is to suspend all flights to and from Tehran effective from October 11.
British Airways, Air France and KLM also recently stated that they were set to halt flights to Iran . O nly a handful of Western European airlines remain committed to Iran services. They include Austrian Airlines, Aeroflot, Germania, Pegasus and Ukraine International Airlines. If they continue with their services they could be hit by secondary sanctions from Washington.
Aegean Airlines said in a press release that it would discontinue its Iran flights due to “foreign exchange bank restrictions that affects viability ”.
Companies doing business with Iran are exposed to US sanctions if their enterprise has any connection to the US financial system via global banking and finance.
The reintroduction of heavy American sanctions—which the US says it will tighten to an unprecedented level as it attempts to throttle Iran’s economy to the point where Tehran comes to the table to reset its involvement in Middle East affairs—has caused the Iranian rial (IRR) to nosedive over recent months, making it more expensive for Iranians to travel overseas.
In turn the number of foreign business people travelling to Iran has also no doubt fallen significantly since the US resumed economic hostilities.
9.2.4 TMT corporate news
Digikala, “Iran’s Amazon” in the making, is feeling the effects of the downturn that has struck the Iranian economy. The company is laying off 175 of its 2,400-plus-strong staff, ITIRAN reported on September 4. Co-founded and run by the Mohammadi twin brothers, Digikala has doubled down on e-commerce in the country of 80mn in recent years, expanding its range of offers beyond its original digital line-up of goods to clothing, homewares and medical and bathroom devices. It is by far Iran’s largest online retailer of electronic and clothing goods.
Hamid and Said Mohammadi—believed by analysts to have personal fortunes of more than $100mn each—said in a letter addressed to staff that the firm faced havoc generated by the devaluation of the Iranian rial , the falling purchasing power of Iranians, supply chain problems, the drying up of imports, instability in planning and US sanctions. It is the reintroduction of heavy US sanctions that is widely viewed as the cause of the economic tailspin Iran finds itself in. The “belt needs to be tightened for the winter”, the letter to employees of Digikala—which means “digital products” in Farsi—said.
The announcement comes following Digikala’s buyout of RocoLand , Iran’s largest online-only supermarket.
9.2.5 Property corporate news
Iranian companies behind property website Alounak.com and listings website Sheypoor.com have are in the final stages of a potential merger, the Financial Tribune daily has reported.
Iran’s e-commerce sector has seen record growth in recent years, with several Western-style copycat websites seeing business grow as younger Iranians move online to conduct the majority of their transactions in shopping, real
52 IRAN Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com