Iranian firm offers to buy out minority shareholders at Russian Caspian port terminal
Astrakhan Port owns a sea terminal in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan.
The move underscores Tehran's increasing involvement in Russia's export infrastructure as the two countries deepen economic ties under Western sanctions. The news was first reported by Russian newspaper Kommersant.
The deal, worth approximately 437.5 million roubles ($5.6 million) would give the Iranian firm full control over one of the key Caspian Sea terminals, used for transshipping grain, metals, timber, and fertilizers.
In the 2023/2024 agricultural season, the terminal handled around 275,000 metric tons of grain, but volumes dropped to 139,500 tons in the current season, with no shipments in May.
The Caspian Sea is a traditional route for transporting Russian grain to Iran.
Grain shipments through the route sharply declined in the second half of 2025 due to a temporary export ban on barley and corn imposed by Russia, but analysts expect a rebound in the 2025/2026 agricultural season, partly due to a crop decline in Iran this year.
($1 = 78.4455 roubles) (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Olga Popova; Editing by David Evans)
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