The parties are open for participation of the third countries in the consortium
A transport hub is to be created in Iran for exports of grain from Russia. It will be built in the port of Bandar Abbas or Bandar Khomeini, press center of the State Duma of the Russian Federation cites Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma's Committee on International Affairs.
Leonid Slutsky held a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian where the parties discussed the issues of further work towards ratification of the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea and a number of infrastructure projects. “The first priority among them is given to the North-South international transport corridor which is to become a real alternative to the Suez Canal and the Black Sea straits in the nearest time, as well as to cooperation in the area of energy including atomic energy, in the area of exploration and production of oil and gas in the territory of Iran, cargo transit across the Caspian Sea as well as electrification of а Garmsar - Inche Burun railway by Russian companies,” said the Deputy.
“As for the back loading of the transport corridor from Russia, it will be mainly grain. The region’s largest grain hub can be created in the port of Bandar Abbas or the port of Bandar Khomeini,” said Leonid Slutsky adding that the parties are open for a participation of the third countries in the consortium but assume that the hub will be created by Russia and Iran.
In his Annual Address to the Federal Assembly, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would bring its grain exports to 55–60 million tonnes in 2023. Over the first half of the agricultural season Russia exported 22.7 million tonnes of wheat, 200 thousand tonnes more, year-on-year.