Iran exported close to €54 million worth of commodities to Bulgaria in 2017, indicating a 115% hike compared with the previous year. Imports of Iran from the European country, on the other hand, amounted to nearly €52.2 million last year, showing a 23.23% decrease year-on-year, based on the latest Eurostat figures shared with Financial Tribune. As such, Iran-Bulgaria trade stood at close to €106.2 million, registering around 14% YOY rise compared with 2016. As the second leg of his tour of Balkan and Eastern Europe, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Sofia on Tuesday and met with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov on Wednesday. Iran has lately been negotiating a new transit corridor to Europe with Bulgaria as well as with Georgia, Azerbaijan, Italy and Greece, as an alternative for the current route to Europe that passes through Turkey. Trucks will be shipped by RoRo (Roll-on/roll-off) ships from Georgia to Bulgaria across the Black Sea. The same method can also be used for trucks shipping goods from Greece’s southern ports to Italy using the Mediterranean Sea.
