Bank Saderat Seeks to Expand Activities in the Balkans

April 5, 1998 - 0:0
ATHENS - The branch of Iran's Bank Saderat in Athens beyond playing a vital role in expansion of trade between Greece and Iran is now trying to expand its activities in the Balkans, said the branch manager of Bank Saderat in Athens. The basic function of the bank concerns strengthening of Greek-Iranian trade and supporting transactions with other branches of the bank like those in the region of the Persian Gulf and the former Soviet Union, Y. Soleyman-Nejad, Saderat branch's manger in Athens, told the Greek magazine Banc Assurance World , a monthly which specializes in banking and insurance affairs.

The Iranian banker said the Saderat Bank was not only trying to expand its activities in Greece, where its presence in the past have been coupled with positive results, but it also has the possibility to serve the Balkan states, especially a country like Bosnia-Herzegovina which has economic and commercial interests with Iran. Soleyman-Nejad noted that Bank Saderat is the second largest bank of the Islamic Republic. It maintains 3,000 branches in Iran and 23 branches abroad.

Its Athens branch is the sole branch in Greece, having started operation in 1977. Apart from having branches in the Persian Gulf and in the Muslim republics of Central Asia, Bank Saderat maintains branches in Germany, France and England. By its presence here (in Athens) the bank is serving better its network and consequently the international trade as well, he said in the one-page interview.

He said Bank Saderat offers specialised services such as confirmation and payment of irrevocable documentary credits, as well as, discount on deferred payment credits from Iran. The performance of its transactions is guaranteed towards the Greek banking authorities, as it has been in the past, Soleyman-Nejad stressed, calling on Greek businessmen to grab the chances offered by the swift economic evolution in the IIsamic Republic of Iran. The discovery of big oil layers in the Caspian Sea has enhanced the trading and economic perspectives of Iran which apart from oil is also producing and exporting natural gas, petrochemical, copper, iron, etc.

For Greeks Iran offers a wide commercial interest, particularly for the shipping community, because a significant part of the Iranian trade is transported by sea. In a separate interview with the same magazine, the deputy branch manager of Bank Saderat in Athens, Andreas Inglesis, said Greek exporters who are doing business with Iran are among the clients of the bank. Iran is importing many goods from Greece, mainly raw materials for industry...now that the situation has normalized, our bank has started to take big steps for the future.

It is on a good path, Inglesis added. (IRNA)