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‘Russia ready to invest $10bn in Iran oil sector: Minister

This photo published on the Twitter account of the Russian energy ministry shows Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and his Iranian counterpart, Reza Ardakanian shaking hands after a meeting in Moscow.

Iran’s Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian says Russia would be ready to invest up to $10 billion in Iran’s oil industry despite American sanctions that have hampered Tehran’s efforts to involve foreigners in energy projects.

Reza Ardakanian, who is in Moscow for talks with Russian officials, said on Tuesday that negotiations on Russia’s involvement in Iran’s oil projects would begin soon.

“These negotiations will begin in the near future and we hope we could attain good results in this regard,” Ardakanian told a correspondent of the official IRNA agency in Moscow.

The minister would not elaborate on further details of the Russian plan for growing energy cooperation with Iran. However, he made the remarks after a Monday meeting with Russian counterpart Alexander Novak, where the two had discussed the development of joint energy investment projects.

Ardakanian said that a key result of his meeting with Novak was to finalize documents needed for start of the construction activity of a 1,400-megawatt power plant in the southern Iranian province of Hormuzgan with the financial assistance of the Russian government.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran expects this project to begin in the next two months,” said the Iranian official, making a reference to the Sirik power plant where Russia has committed to a loan of $1.2 billion.

He said another main energy issue discussed in his talks with Russian officials was preparations for a project to synchronize electricity grids of Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan via Baku. Ardakanian said that the project would begin in a year time after a study phase in completed.


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