Tehran–2024

A strategic breakthrough has been achieved in the negotiations held in Iran on the construction of the Resht-Astara railroad, which closes the western branch of the international North-South transport corridor. It concerns the purchase of land plots for infrastructure.

The talks in Tehran took place on December 23. The Russian delegation included two deputy prime ministers - Vitaly Savelyev and Alexei Overchuk, Transport Minister Roman Starovoit and the head of JSC “Russian Railways” Oleg Belozerov. Vitaly Savelyev heads the working group on the development of the North-South ITC, and Roman Starovoit and Oleg Belozerov are its members. From the Iranian side, the meeting was attended by the country's President Masoud Pezeshkian, his first deputy Mohammad-Reza Aref and Minister of Roads and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh.

“We are trying to solve emerging issues to speed up the construction process of the Resht-Astara railroad. I believe that we have now made strategic decisions. We hope that in the near future we will start moving towards their realization,” said Vitaly Savelyev. He specified that it is about four points, which both sides have undertaken. According to the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, the Iranian side has pledged to provide a schedule for the purchase of land for construction.

This issue is indeed extremely painful in the context of the Resht-Astara project. In summer, market participants said that the cost of plots in the construction area reaches $1 million per hectare, but even for this money not all owners are ready to part with their land, in particular, with rice lands. Prices have to be renegotiated. “They originally had one amount for redemption, but now it has changed - they need to coordinate budget expenditures just like us,” explained a source familiar with the negotiations.

The agreement on the construction of the Resht-Astara road was signed in May 2023. At that time, the project was estimated at 1.6 billion euros, of which 1.3 billion euros were committed to be allocated by the Russian side. During his visit on December 23, Vitaly Saveliev noted that “financing is actually open.” The Iranian side gives five years from the date of allocation of funds for construction.