A view of phase IX of South Pars gas development project in southern Iran

Iran plans to establish a special bank to fund oil and gas development projects, said deputy oil minister for planning affairs. “The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has approved the establishment of the bank with the initial capital of $15 billion,“ Akbar Torkan told Fars news agency on Sunday.
Preliminary negotiations are underway and the initial capital of the bank would be made available from CBI’s foreign exchange reserves, he said. “The top bank is ready to finance oil projects to counter restrictions imposed by foreign banks in funding oil development plans.“
Governor of CBI Tahmasb Mazaheri said Saturday that Iran is too strong to get into in trouble as a result of financial restrictions the US has imposed on the banking system.
He said on the sidelines of the 250th meeting of the Islamic Development Bank, “Though the US administration’s hostility to the Iranian people has caused some problems for the banking system, Iran is too strong to be affected by such restrictions.
Iran has high capacity and potential and the world is also bigger and more capable than what the US expects.“
Torkan added that CBI’s financial assistance is in addition to a special fund earmarked for South Pars development projects in the budget bill for fiscal year 2008-09.
According to a Majlis approval of the bill, three percent of oil revenues will be allocated for development of one of the world’s largest gas field in southern Iran.
“The top bank will fund a project provided it has economic and technical feasibility and commitments for repayments are clearly defined,“ added Torkan.

Iran Khodro Industrial Company has been named the top Iranian company.
Based on financial statements for March 2006-07, the giant auto manufacturer, Middle East’s largest, has been chosen among 400 state and private companies.
Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), SAIPA Company, National Iranian Petrochemical Company and Melli Bank of Iran ranked second to fifth respectively, IRIB reported on Sunday.
Under a plan called Top Iranian Companies, the ’100 Top Iranian Corporations’ are chosen each year based on 17 financial indices including growth in sale and dividends as well as rise in profits.
Total sale of the top domestic corporations stood at over 868,200 rials last year. Sales of top 12 companies in the ranking constituted half of the total figure.
The most profitable companies as per financial statements for March 2006-2007 were IDRO, SAIPA, National Iranian Copper Industries Company and Mobarakeh Steel Company.
The ranking has been assessed by Iran Industrial Management Company for the past 10 years.
In previous rankings, the top five corporations were IDRO with an asset of 112,658 billion rials followed by Iran Khodro Industrial Group with an asset of 65,971 billion rials, Iran Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization with 52,184 billion rials, SAIPA car factory with 40,528 billion rials and National Petrochemical Company with 32,024 billion rials.

The third five-percent block of shares of Mobarakeh Steel Complex was sold Sunday. Razavi Brokerage sold 790 million stocks (five percent of the total shares) of the steel company at 12:04 p.m. local time (08:34 GMT), Fars news agency reported.
The shares were sold to investors at 3,900 rials ($0.41) each. Total value of shares is estimated at over three trillion rials.
The fourth five-percent shares of the company will be on sale at the stock exchange today.
Foulad Staff Fund on Wednesday bought 790 million shares of the giant firm, while another five-percent offering of the shares in a single block found no buyer on Saturday.
Over 3.1 billion shares of the company, valued at $1.4 billion, were floated in a single block on November 25, but failed to attract buyers due to liquidity shortage.
Privatization Organization decided to relaunch initial public offerings (IPOs) of the state-owned firm gradually.
Stocks of the company are offered at the stock exchange in line with Article 44 of the Constitution in key economic areas and downsizing the government.
Meanwhile, head of Securities and Stock Exchange Organization put the value of the Iranian stock exchange at $50 billion.
Ali Salehabadi told MNA on Sunday that the figure would reach $100 billion soon with giant companies joining the bourse.

Afghan Water and Energy Ministry has announced that a deal has been signed with an Iranian company for Golbahar dam construction project.
The value of the contract exceeds two million dollars which will be spent on ecological, geological and technical studies of the dam, IRNA reported on Sunday.
Afghanistan’s energy and water minister, Mohammad Esmail Khan, told reporters that the construction of Golbahar dam will help provide the water for irrigating 60,000 hectares of farmland in two eastern Afghan provinces. Golbahar dam will also generate 120 megawatts of electricity, he noted.
Afghanistan has the construction of a total of 30 dams on its development agenda.
The country is currently generating 400 megawatts of electricity while importing 500 megawatts from Turkmenistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Iran is a leading country in dam construction. Iranian engineers have taken charge of constructing major and complex dam building projects in Africa and Asia. The number is expected to rise in the coming years. Iran has become self-reliant in technical knowledge for constructing dams. By mastering the complex technology, the country is now able to implement major development projects domestically and internationally.