Kazem Jalali called the purchase of a portion of stocks of Russia’s Solyanka Port ‘important and positive’ and stated that non-dredging of the Volga River is one of the main obstacles ahead of maritime transport and transit.
Although the relations between Iran and Russia have faced many ups and downs in recent years, these relations have been ‘friendly and amicable’ and reached the ‘strategic level’, he emphasized.
Some 53 percent of stocks of Solyanka Port in the Russian Federation is possessed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) Group, he said, adding that the IRISL has invested more than $10 million in the past two years to renovate the port.
The envoy pointed to the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and said the two countries have witnessed a growing trend of trade through the corridor recently.
He added that the value of trade exchanges between the two countries, which stood at $1.650 billion in 2019, reached about $5 billion in 2022, showing a considerable hike.
Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines Group has played a key role in the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor, the envoy further highlighted.