The Iranian petrochemical industry, which is considered one of the country's main sources of foreign currency, has recently become a battleground for power and rent-seeking gangs. Tenders worth several hundred million euros for equipment supply are awarded to unqualified companies without any prior experience, in clear collusion with senior officials and without adhering to minimum technical standards. The result of these corrupt practices is multiple payments from public funds, years of delays in projects, flaring of billions of cubic feet of sour gas, and exacerbation of the environmental crisis in impoverished provinces, especially Khuzestan.
Mehr Afshan Kouhrang; An Unexpected Winner
A striking example of this corruption is the case of the company “Mehr Afshan Kouhrang”; a company whose only resume prior to this tender was contracts for food supply in restaurants. This company won the largest contract for pipe imports in the petrochemical industry by establishing relationships and leveraging the connections of the CEO of Petrochemical Karon.
This family-owned company, chaired by Shaghayegh Moradi Gharibvand and managed by Navid Moradi Gharibvand, unexpectedly triumphed in a tender valued at approximately 498 billion tomans. This victory is not only astonishing but also indicative of the depth of corruption and collusion in this industry.
Windfall Profits and Unanswered Questions
This seemingly simple change resulted in more than 280 billion tomans in windfall profits for the company. At the time of the contract signing, the euro rate in the Sena system was around 83,000 tomans, while the free market rate was trading at over 130,000 tomans. Thus, the winning company received 780 billion tomans at the time of settlement; which is 57% more than the actual tender amount.
Among dozens of similar cases where the name Afshin Kiani and his gang appear, a fundamental question remains: why has this manager continued to sit in the CEO chair of Petrochemical Karon until today, and why have senior managers and judicial authorities not taken any action against this corruption ring?
