Iran finalizes agreements with German, Swiss insurers for coverage on transactions

Iran finalized agreements with the German Hermes insurance firm and Swiss Export Risk Insurance (SERV) to provide coverage for its transactions with European countries, reported Press TV on Wednesday.

The Export Guarantee Fund of Iran (EGFI) announced on Wednesday that the agreements were signed in Lisbon, Portugal, on the sidelines of the annual Bern Union meeting, which is an association of world's private and state export credit insurers.

According to the agreement, Iranian and European sides will cooperate on the "exchange of economic, trade and banking information, reinsurance coverage, coinsurance, and training."

European export credit insurers are increasingly interested in financing projects in Iran after western sanctions against Iran were lifted following last year's nuclear deal which ended the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear program, EGFI Managing Director Kamal Seyyed-Ali was quoted as saying.

"Given our good track record in repayment of finance installments and Iran's foreign exchange reserves and the nonexistence of outstanding debts, these institutions are interested in the Iranian financing market," Seyyed-Ali said.

Iranian Ambassador to Berlin Ali Majedi said in June that Iran has paid off its debt of about 500 million euros to Hermes, clearing the way for the resumption of insurance services.

Last month, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said that the Austrian export credit agency OeKB raised its coverage for Iranian transactions to one billion euros.

Reportedly, Austrian Raiffeisen and Erste Banks along with some banks from Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey and Belgium have set up offices in Iran, handling transactions with the energy-rich country while major banks have stayed away.

Iran accused the United States of impeding the improvement of relations between Iranian and major European banks.

"Unfortunately, after nine months of implementation of the nuclear deal, the Western side has not taken any effective steps to comply with its undertakings," CBI governor Valiollah Seif said earlier this month.

He deemed the United States as one of the most critical impediments to normalizing relations between Iranian and European banks.

Seif said Tehran expects European countries to "pressure the United States to comply with its undertakings" according to the nuclear deal.

The July 2015 deal ended the decade-long controversial issue of Iran's nuclear program, with Iran agreeing to scale down major parts of its nuclear program in return for the lifting of political and economic sanctions by western powers. Endit