From Pasargad Bank to Kaleh and Mihan, meet Iran’s five rent-seeking giants
From Pasargad Bank to Kaleh and Mihan, meet Iran’s five rent-seeking giants. According to Iran Gate, details have recently been released about the amount of loans given by several large holdings to their subsidiaries, as well as the significant rents they have benefited from. This list, which includes eight major conglomerates in the country, features well-known names such as Pasargad Bank, Mihan Dairy Products, Minou Food Products, Kaleh, and Modall Group.
A report recently published by the Ham Mihan newspaper about the widespread distribution of rent among eight major companies in Iran was removed from the website of this media outlet on the morning of Tuesday, November 15, 2022. This report, which described the extent of unusual loans and the receipt of preferential currency on a very large scale, indicated that some holdings close to the government have benefited from rents facilitated by sanctions.
In this report, Iran Gate examined the five main companies that have allocated large sums and attempted to introduce them.
Pasargad Bank
Pasargad Bank is one of the most enigmatic economic entities in Iran, which strangely enjoys a kind of managerial and operational stability. The performance of this private bank, currently recognized as one of the country’s most successful banks, has always been surrounded by suspicions regarding its management team.
At times, information about the subsidiaries of this bank has been released, which highlights significant loans allocated to them by the parent bank. In other words, Pasargad Bank has established numerous subsidiaries that have continually received loans over recent years.
Now, published reports indicate that Pasargad Bank has provided 163 trillion tomans in loans to its subsidiaries. Essentially, Pasargad has used this tactic to return the money that should have been available to real customers back into its own pockets. It remains unclear for what purpose these funds have been used and why the Central Bank’s oversight bodies have not intervened in this case, which is a clear violation of banking law.
Further details reveal that part of this amount was provided to Pasargad Bank’s subsidiaries by four banks: Eghtesad Novin, Tourism, Industry and Mine, and Middle East. Among the major recipients of these loans are Pasargad Brokerage, Zarand Steel, Amin Investment Company, Pasargad Value Creators, and Pasargad Energy Development.
Some sources believe that the volume of rent from which Pasargad Bank and its subsidiaries have benefited is much greater than this amount. Now that such statistics have been released, it remains to be seen whether the Central Bank under Saleh Abadi and the government of Ebrahim Raisi will address the issue.
Mihan Dairy and Ice Cream Industries
The name of the Mihan Group, which recently became controversial due to suspicions of using dairy transport vehicles in protests instead of armored vehicles, appears on this list. It has now been disclosed that Mihan Dairy and Ice Cream Industries received over 10 trillion tomans in rent-seeking loans, the justification for which remains unclear. The names of Pasargad, Eghtesad Novin, Agriculture, Sina, Housing, Shahr, and Day banks are also seen in the list of lenders to Mihan and its subsidiaries.
Additionally, documents have been released showing that this food and dairy producer received over 19 billion dollars in preferential currency under the pretext of imports. Among the major companies that received these loans are the Mihan Group, Baneh Grain Group, Ayoub Sustainability Group, and Rashaka Spinn Iranian Paper Manufacturing Complex.
Kaleh Group
Kaleh Group, one of the giants in dairy products and meat processing, is among the eight rent-seeking holdings. This group, which has received over 335 million dollars, has also obtained more than 285 million dollars in preferential currency at the rate of 4,200 tomans.
Furthermore, Eghtesad Novin, Industry and Mine, Agriculture, and Saman banks have collectively provided over 2,800 billion tomans in loans to the Solico Kaleh Group and Amol Meat Processing Group. A person named Gholamali Soleimani, the founder of Solico, is among the list of borrowers, having received over 1,000 billion tomans from Kaleh’s loans.
Minoo Industrial Group and Azadegan Group
The Minoo Industrial Group, a well-known name in Iran’s food industry, also has a significant presence on this list. The total loans this group has received from the banking system amount to over 2,600 billion tomans, all of which have been provided by Eghtesad Novin Bank to the Minoo Industrial Group and the Azadegan Economic and Self-Sufficiency Group.
Modall Group
The controversial Modall Group is another of the eight exposed rent-seeking holdings. This conglomerate, owned by the Modall family, is active in importing food products, especially sugar, to Iran. Documents also suggest a connection between this family and the household of a religious leader, which has always been denied by the family of this religious authority.
According to published documents, Ava Tejarat Saba, a subsidiary of the Modall Group, received 1 trillion tomans in loans from Pasargad Bank. However, the strange and worrying point is the volume of 4,200 toman preferential currency that this group has acquired. According to this report, the Modall Group has received over 4.7 billion dollars in 4,200 toman currency for the purpose of importing essential goods.
