Pointing to the details of a meeting with Germany's Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Matthias Machnig, Iranian Deputy Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Road and Urban Development Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said “it was agreed that Iran will clear its $560 million Hermes cover debt in September before Germany resumes providing guarantees for German exports to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Hermes cover is a common way of referring to an export credit guarantee (ECG) by the German government. These guarantees are an important part of German foreign trade policy and protect German companies in the event of non-payment by foreign debtors.
“We hold certain contracts with German companies including Siemens which need to be implemented in Iran with Germany providing the necessary finance,” Fakhrieh Kashan added.
The official also noted the fueling of Iranian aircraft in Hamburg explaining “a private firm in charge of distributing jet fuel has agreed to resolve the issue.”
“The majority of recent negotiations pertain to rail road transit while Germany’s deputy economy minister is eager to receive Iran’s proposals in marine and airport sectors,” he continued.
Referring to port projects discussed with the German delegation, Iran’s road deputy minister said “we conducted talks on new port projects in Chabahr as well as Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas while the German side agreed to finance the ongoing deals worth 200 million euros.”
“A joint commission between Iran and Germany will be formed in May and we will host Germany’s minister of economic affairs dealing with details of investment agreement,” underlined the official.
Iran's Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Ali Noorzad, for his part, stated “given that railroad projects remain atop priority, we offered six projects to the German delegation in order to provide the finance and speed up the implementation of projects.”
Also Ahmad Khodaei, deputy head of Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, touched upon the plan to electrify nearly 1600 km of rail lines in the country commenting “we hold two simultaneous contracts with China and Russia in this regard while we are also willing to cooperate with Siemens of Germany due to their successful achievements in production of electric locomotives.”
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