Fincantieri

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"European companies are promising billions in new deals in Iran—€5.7 billion from Italian steelmaker Danieli and more than €300 million from French car builder PSA Peugeot Citroën, among others—as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani works to revive trade and political ties on the Continent this week. Mr. Rouhani landed in Rome on Monday on his first overseas trip since the European Union lifted sanctions on Jan. 16 in return for Tehran’s implementation of key restrictions on its nuclear program. The trip will take Mr. Rouhani from Vatican City—marking the first meeting between an Iranian president and a pope since 1999—to the gilded halls of Paris’s Élysée Palace. With a number of U.S. sanctions still in place, European countries are moving quickly to re-establish ties to sell everything from consumer goods to aircraft. Italian and Iranian companies signed deals valued at about €17 billion ($18.36 billion) late Monday ahead of a formal dinner between Mr. Rouhani and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Earlier in the day, Italian steel firm Danieli said it would sign deals valued at about €5.7 billion during the visit. Other firms signing agreements on Monday included oil-field services company Saipem SpA, energy group Ansaldo Energia and ship maker Fincantieri SpA... In France, auto makers, airport operators and construction firms were primed for a raft of accords when Mr. Rouhani visits French President François Hollande on Thursday. French car maker Peugeot is expected to complete an agreement to manufacture cars in Iran as part of a 50-50 joint venture with auto maker Iran Khodro valued at more than €300 million, according to a person familiar with the matter... In opening its doors for business, however, Tehran is demanding European firms locate technological know-how and factories inside Iran to revive the country’s hobbled job market. Another key plank of Iran’s ambitions is the revamping of its creaky aviation industry. Iranian officials say they plan to buy more than 100 new jets from Airbus Group SE to replenish the country’s small and poorly maintained commercial passenger fleet. Mr. Rouhani’s meeting with Mr. Hollande in Paris on Thursday is timed to the unveiling of about €400 million in contracts to expand Iran’s aging airports for increased tourism and business traffic, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Tehran is expected to tap French airport operator Aéroports de Paris and construction-and-media conglomerate Bouygues SA to design and build a new terminal at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, according to the people. French construction firm Vinci SA will develop and operate airports in Mashhad and another Iranian city, the people said... Just minutes after Mr. Rouhani landed in Rome, Italian airline Alitalia SpA said it would boost the number of flights between Rome and Tehran from four times a week to daily, starting March 27." (Wall Street Journal, “Iran President Visits Europe to Seal Post-Sanctions Deals Worth Billions,” 1/25/2016) (http://www.wsj.com/articles/irans-rouhani-starts-first-post-sanctions-european-trip-1453723466)

"Fincantieri reports that it has signed a number of framework agreements with Iranian companies. It says these "preliminary understandings are prior to the accomplishment of several contracts worth some hundred million euros and to the potential development of joint activities. The understandings include a cooperation and development agreement with Azim Gostaresh Hormoz Shipbuilding Industry Co (AGH), which Fincantieri says is "a modern and new shipyard, strategically located in the Persian Gulf within the special economic zone." (January 27, 2016). (https://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=10449:fincantieri-inks-iranian-shipyard-cooperation-agreement&Itemid=257)