On July 26-29 there was the business trip of Ukrainian delegation to Tehran and Tabriz, Iran, organized by the Kherson CCI in association with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine, the General Secretariat of the Iranian-Ukrainian Business Council, with support from the Embassy of Ukraine in Iran and the Iranian Embassy in Ukraine.

The delegation, headed by Mrs. Viktoria Ostroumova, the President of the Kherson CCI, was composed of officials from the Department of Agricultural Development of Kherson Regional State Administration and representatives of engineering, agriculture and banking sectors from Kiev, Kramatorsk, Kherson: Public JSC “Kramatorskii heavy machine-tool building plant”, LLC «Mechanical Plant», LLC “Agricultural enterprise “Zlato Tavrii”, Commercial bank, JSC «Globus».

The visit program, developed with support from the Embassy of Ukraine in Iran and the Iranian-Ukrainian Business Council, was included a number of meetings, the main purpose of which was to establish direct business relations with Iranian companies, interested in developing trade and economic ties with Ukraine, as well as getting general information concerning peculiarities of Iranian-Ukrainian cooperation.

On July, 26, the Ukrainian delegation visited Tabriz (East Azerbaijan province) to attend the Tabriz Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture. Mrs.Viktoria Ostroumova, the President of the Kherson CCI, met with the leadership of the Chamber and Tabriz business circles to present economic and investment potential of the Kherson region. Mrs. Margarita Stepanova, the Head of Rural Development and Agribusiness division of Kherson Regional State Administration, reported on the possibilities of cooperation in the agricultural sector. Then there were direct talks of the companies-members of the Ukrainian delegation and Iranian entrepreneurs. In addition, the Ukrainian side received detailed information about the work features of Aras free trade-industrial zone.

At the Municipality of Tabriz there was a meeting with the Mayor, Mr. S.Nadzhafi, who assured the Ukrainian side to his readiness in the development of the Ukrainian-Iranian partnership, primarily in the field of industrial cooperation, as Tabriz was an industrial centre with the developed oil refining, machinery and chemical industries.

On July, 27-28, there were the meetings with representatives of trading and investment companies, the CCI of Iran, the Iranian-Ukrainian Business Council and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tehran. The Iranians showed readiness to cooperate in agriculture, engineering, metallurgy, petrochemical industries, transport and logistics. About 80 Iranian companies took part in B2B negotiations at the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mining and Agriculture of Iran.

As for cooperation in the field of mechanical engineering, representatives of Iranian companies and organizations expressed their willingness to import Ukrainian technologies and equipment for its own metallurgical, machine-building plants, railway companies, due to the target of the Iranian government to upgrade their own production as soon as possible. Thus, a proposal of Public JSC “Kramatorskii heavy machine-tool building plant” aroused great interest. In addition, the Iranian side is concerned in cooperation with Ukrainian design institutes on construction of a shipyard at the Caspian Sea.

More over Iranian side is interested in setting up joint ventures in various sectors employing Ukrainian technologies and human resources. The Iranian government allocates funds to Iranian companies, having a partner abroad, to purchase modern technologies.

As the first step to enter Ukrainian products Iranian market industrial companies of Ukraine were invited to participate in specialized exhibitions in Tehran.

No doubt, Iran remains the main promising partner of Ukraine in the Middle East. Today, the main area of ​​economic and trade cooperation with this country is being agriculture, but there is a considerable potential for cooperation in other areas, particularly in engineering and high-tech industries. The Iranian side is ready to cooperate with Ukrainian industrial and scientific enterprises, but competiveness of European companies keeps growing, so Ukrainian companies should explore opportunities of introducing their products to Iranian companies more actively.

A meeting of the Ukrainian-Iranian intergovernmental commission is scheduled for the mid-September, 2015 in Tehran. After a break of 14 years because of sanctions this body resumes its work, which makes it possible to strengthen trade relations between the two countries.