TEHRAN- Iran and Bulgaria signed three memorandums of understanding in Tehran on Monday to boost bilateral relations in various fields.

The MOUs were signed in the presence of Iranian First-Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, IRNA reported.

An MOU was penned by Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Va’ezi and Bulgarian Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Ivaylo Moskovski.

Another MOU was signed between Iran’s Deputy Economy Minister Mohammad Khazaei and his Bulgarian counterpart Lyuben Petrov on joint investment.

Petrov also inked the third MOU with Iran’s Deputy Industry Minister Ali Yazdani on cooperation between Iranian and Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Gateways for each other

The Bulgarian prime minister, heading a high-ranking political-economic delegation, arrived in Tehran on Monday for a two-day visit.

Iran and Bulgaria are situated in geographically strategic regions in Europe and the Middle East respectively. So, they can be gateways for each other’s markets in the two regions, Borissov said in his meeting with Jahangiri.

He expressed hope that bilateral relations in banking, energy, agriculture, and tourism would be restored to pre-sanction levels.

Expanding energy ties

In a Monday meeting, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova conferred on expanding bilateral energy ties through reviving their joint energy committee, Shana news agency reported.

Last week, Iran’s Ambassador to Bulgaria Abdollah Norouzi said entrepreneurs from his country are eyeing the prospect to open an oil refinery in Bulgaria.

Norouzi told Bulgaria’s Evropa TV station that the Iranian business in general is interested in investing into the Southeastern European nation's energy sector.

This includes oil and exports to the country, he added.

HJ/MA