Russia invests $8 billion in Iran's gas projects

Russia is investing $8 billion in Iran's gas projects, and part of this amount — about $5 billion — has already been provided for in agreements, said Kazem Jalali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic to Moscow. Experts believe that Russia's participation in Middle Eastern developments may allow the export of raw materials not only to Iran, but also to South Asian countries. In their opinion, the supplied volumes will help compensate for the loss of the European gas market — over 100 billion cubic meters per year.

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The intensification of gas cooperation with Iran is, along with the idea of creating a gas hub in Turkey, one of the directions for diversifying the supply of Russian "blue fuel," says Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

According to him, in the case of Turkey, it was more about creating a pricing center and a trading platform rather than a real increase in transit in the short term, since the construction of additional highways under the Black Sea is problematic in the current conditions. The Iranian vector of cooperation initially implied the organization of gas supplies to the Islamic Republic.

"In order to bring gas supplies to Iran to the declared 55 billion cubic meters per year, it is necessary to build new highways — either in the existing land corridor from Mozdok to Ajikabul and further to the Islamic Republic, or along the bottom of the Caspian Sea. Since these projects are under discussion, it is possible to adjust their capacity both up and down, up to 100 billion cubic meters," the expert believes.

Alexander Frolov, Deputy General Director of the Institute of National Energy, recalled that Iran is experiencing a growing shortage of 150-300 million cubic meters of gas. m per day. Therefore, the market capacity for Russian supplies will be large.

"The advantages of cooperation are a stable new market. The disadvantage is low domestic prices, which will force Iranians to actively bargain," he believes.

Valery Andrianov agrees with his colleague, who notes among the advantages the large capacity of the domestic market and the favorable geographical location of the state, which turns it into a potential gas hub for organizing supplies to third countries.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Pipes deal: Russia invests $8 billion in Iran's gas projects