Several European companies and banks have expressed their readiness to join the European financial channel with Iran, INSTEX, in a bid to help operationalize the system, said new INSTEX president on Tuesday.
Michael Bock, former German ambassador and successor of Per Fischer at the head of INSTEX, visited Iran on Sunday to hold talks with German business delegates in Iran and other senior Iranian officials.
Ambassador Michael Bock has been appointed president of the mechanism designed to settle trade between Iran and Europe, officially known as Instrument in Support of Trade Exchange (INSTEX).
In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, private sector representatives have called on government to give more authority to the Export Guarantee Fund of Iran with regard to issuing export guarantees, according to the EGFI chief.
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has said that the Europeans should show their sincerity about their Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) by ordering Iran’s crude.
Erbel was set to replace former German banker Per Fischer as INSTEX president after the latter’s six-month period came to an end with no tangible results at the end.
France has reportedly proposed Iran a credit line of $15bn to run the European payment channel with Tehran, INSTEX, as Iran threatens to reduce more of its nuclear commitments in coming weeks.
Many countries are considering joining the European payment mechanism. Sweden, after Finland, is the second Scandinavian country to express readiness to be part of the trade channel.
In a push to process transactions more quickly, INSTEX is rolling out a new factoring service for European exporters. The company is also making new hires that will enable it to expand operations in the coming year.
The Scandinavian nation wants to be included in the European payment channel with Iran in a bid not to lose the Iranian market in the wake of US unilateral sanctions.