Russia begins grain deliveries to Iran, will ship 1.3 mn tons in 2015

Tehran, June 8, IRNA – Russia has made its first grain deliveries to Iran, Russia's agriculture watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, said Monday 'Yes, the deliveries began a few days ago, as of now 100,000 tons of grain have been shipped,' Alexey Alexeyenko, an aide to the head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance told RIA Novosti. He added that Russia plans to deliver at least 1.3 million metric tons of grain to Iran in 2015. In April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that an 'oil-for-goods' program was underway between Moscow and Tehran. The program also includes deliveries of building materials and equipment in exchange for Iranian crude oil. Last week, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that Tehran could begin exporting oil to Russia within days. Under an agreement first reported in early 2014, Moscow will purchase up to 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Tehran. The five-year oil-for-goods program was initially estimated to be worth nearly $20 billion. In related news, Iran rejected Western media reports on oil-for-goods barter with Russia. These media reported over the weekend that Russia and Iran will soon start what has been described for long as an “oil-for-goods” barter scheme. They quoted a report by Bloomberg in which Iran’s Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh had said the scheme will be launched within the next days. However, Iran’s media on Sunday have quoted officials as saying that Iran and Russia are working on no barter plan and that the two have devised a mechanism by means of which Russia will sell Iran’s oil and deposit the revenues thus obtained in a fund that Iran can use to purchase its essential commodities. “This agreement [between Iran and Russia] is not an oil-for-goods barer,” said Mohsen Qamsari, the NIOC director for international affairs. Qamsari added the agreement that Iran and Russia have already signed and are about to make operational envisages a scheme in which a joint fund will be created between the two countries over the sales of Iranian oil. The fund, the official added, will provide the resources for purchasing different kinds of goods and equipment from any suppliers from around the world. Qamsari further added that there is no limitation for Russia over selling Iranian oil. “Of course, it cannot include all of Iran’s exportable oil because Iran has commitments to sell oil to certain markets.” Bloomberg report had quoted Zangeneh as saying that Russia will buy “much lower than 500,000 barrels day” in exchange for cash, which Iran will then spend on Russian goods such as steel, wheat and oil byproducts. He had added that Kazakhstan and Belarus will be able to buy Iranian oil from Russia under the agreement, as they are part of the Eurasian Customs Union. Other Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday raised speculations that the agreement with Russia – which to many may have already looked like a major economic cooperation deal – could include selling Iranian natural gas to Europe by Russia, as well. Azizollah Ramezani, the director for international affairs of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), has been quoted by local media as saying that Iran is interested in using the Turkish Stream pipeline – which has been constructed to export Russian gas to Europe through Turkey - to export its natural gas to Europe. “In the near future….Iran and Russia may connect their pipelines and jointly sell their natural gas to Europe,” Ramezani added.