Russian firm inks investment deal for medical projects in Iran

A Russian company has undertaken to invest at least 500 million euros in Iran to produce antiviral medicine for COVID-19 and other diseases, IRNA news agency reports.

The “investment agreement for foundation of new perspective investment projects in the fields of medicine, biotechnology and bioengineering” was signed between Iran’s INGP Holding and Russian investment company Region TransNeft, the report says.

“Based on the agreement, the Russian company Region TransNeft is willing to invest 500 million euros and more ... in advanced technology projects in Iran," it said.

It will help produce the latest Russian antiviral vaccines for all strains of COVID-19 and retroviruses. The agreement also calls for production of active biological agents with high demand in international markets and medical equipment for sale in Iran and other countries.

According to the report, the two companies will cooperate on vaccinating Iranians against COVID-19 and establishing a network of clinics and medical laboratories for research in Iran.

TransNeft is a state-controlled pipeline transport company headquartered in Moscow. It is the largest oil pipeline company in the world. Iran’s Inter Naft Gas Prom Pars (INGP) Holding is based in Tehran, with branches on Kish Island and Moscow. Their partnership is based on promoting economic and social development in Iran and Russia, according to INGP’s website.    

Iran is currently grappling with a new wave of coronavirus infections which, officials say, surged following a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular vacation spots, packed markets to shop for new clothes and toys and congregated in homes for parties in defiance of government health guidelines.

The country began a 10-day lockdown on Saturday, ordering most shops closed and offices restricted to one-third capacity in cities declared as red zones, including Tehran and 250 cities and towns.

Iran has already received more than 400,000 of 2 million Sputnik V vaccines on order from Russia. It has also received 250,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine and part of an order of 500,000 doses of India’s COVAXIN.

Last week, the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme delivered its first shipment to Iran from the Netherlands containing 700,000 vaccine doses.

Iran is also developing at least four local vaccine candidates, one in cooperation with Cuba, which are expected to reach production in a few months.

The news of the contract between Region TransNeft and INGP comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is visiting Iran to extend a comprehensive cooperation agreement between the two countries.

Last month, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the 20th anniversary of the agreement, saying relations between the two countries were “stronger than ever”. It coincided with a recent correspondence between Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

Unlike their political relations, trade between Iran and Russia has moved in a slow lane.

Russia has signed an agreement to implement the second and third units of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant after bringing the first facility online in 2011.

In 2019, Iran reportedly presented as many as 12 projects in the petroleum sector to Russia’s Gazprom, Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Zarubezhneft, Taftneft and Lukoil for development amid talk of Moscow’s readiness to invest up to $50 billion in the Islamic Republic, but they did not move up to a contract.

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