Thursday, November 21, 2024

German and international companies active in Iran

New York Times list: Companies which are active in Iran and in the United States. (March 12, 2010)

Listed here are only the German companies. For information on companies from other countries, and more information on the study compare the webpage of the New York Times.

BASF

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $12.7 million

Federal Contracts: $9,093,386
Federal Grants: $3,632,758
Status in Iran: Active

BASF first started doing business in Iran in 1959, a spokesman for the company said. He said the company continues to operate in the country and that it monitors its business activities in Iran to assure compliance with all legal requirements and trade regulations. The company also has sold chemical products to the United States military.

Bayer

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $610 million

Federal Contracts: $609,222,288
Federal Grants: $755,000

Status in Iran: Active

Bayer has been selling products in Iran since the 1880s, according to the company, and founded its first local subsidiary there in the 1960s. Bayer, which sells a variety of products, including medicine, soaps, car treatments and shoe soles, has also sold food, oils, X-Ray equipment and drugs to the American government.

Bosch

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $90.3 million

Federal Contracts: $84,986,611
Federal Grants: $5,338,780

Status in Iran: Active

Bosch, a supplier of building and industrial technology and consumer goods, markets its products in Iran through contract partners, according to its website, but does not have an office in Iran. "We're doing very little business and this is handled through Turkey," said Christian Fromek, a company spokesman. "Our businesses have a civil purpose in providing auto components as well as consumer goods, such power tools and spark plugs. All of our activities respect current regulations in place."

Daimler

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $4.2 billion

Federal Contracts: $4,152,644,868
Federal Grants: $3,359,032

Status in Iran: Active

Daimler has maintained a partnership with Iran car maker Iran Khodro since the 1960s, according to a company spokesperson, and it owns a 30 percent stake in an engine manufacturer owned by Iran Khodro. The company still ships cars to Iran, but new German export laws prohibit the sale of large trucks, and the spokesperson said that the sales are a small portion of worldwide revenue. Daimler and its subsidiaries have won contracts to supply cars and trucks to the U.S. government.

Deutsche Bank

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $2.6 million

Federal Contracts: $2,582,085

Status in Iran: Withdrew

Deutsche Bank announced in July 2007 that it had cut all ties to Iran, saying that it had deemed its business there too time consuming and expensive. While the bank was operating in Iran, RREEF Alternative Investments, a global alternative investment management business of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division, rented properties to the U.S. government.

Linde

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $165 million

Federal Contracts: $164,956,139

Status in Iran: Active, but no new investment

The German company Linde, which has been active in Iran since at least 2001 and built petrochemical and ethylene and air separation plants there over the past 10 years, also has a lucrative contracting business with the American government; among other things, it won a contract to provide helium gas to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a series of four unmanned, high-altitude balloon launches to collect and study data about the solar magnetic field and associated cosmic ray activity, which can expose astronauts and even airline flight crew members to the threat of radiation. In a statement, Linde said that its business in Iran amounts to about 36 million euros a year, or 3 percent of Linde's overall sales, and is currently limited to existing contractual obligations. Because of the current political climate, company spokesman Uwe Wolfinger said it is not accepting new orders from Iran.

Lufthansa

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $36.8 million

Federal Contracts: $36,773,027

Status in Iran: Active

The airline has maintained a route to Iran since 1956, a spokesperson said.

Nokia-Siemens

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $21.5 million

Federal Contracts: $21,495,216

Status in Iran: Active

The joint venture sold technology to Iran in 2008 that could be used by the government to eavesdrop on cellphones and e-mail messages. The sale proved controversial, though the technology is required by other countries, including the United States. Nokia-Siemens continues to provide services to two cellphone companies in Iran, company spokesman Ben Roome said. "We certainly think that providing telecom equipment is a force for good," Mr. Roome said. "Forty million people in Iran have gotten cellphones over the last couple of years and you can see the impact that it has had in terms of access to information and giving ordinary people a way to spread information about the country." Separate from their parent companies, Nokia-Siemens has received contracts from the American government to provide radio and television communication equipment, data storage, detection equipment and other services to the Department of Defense and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Siemens AG

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $3.2 billion

Federal Contracts: $3,111,623,642
Federal Grants: $108,108,016

Status in Iran: Withdrew

Siemens, a sprawling conglomerate involved in everything from engineering to health care, entered the Iranian market in 1974. In 2008, Nokia-Siemens, a joint-project with Finnish telecom Nokia, provided Iran's state-owned telecom company with technology that allowed it to intercept the internet communications of its citizens. The sale prompted controversy, though the technology is also required by Western countries. Siemens, separate from Nokia-Siemens, also is a large federal contractor and received several contracts stemming from the Obama administration's economic stimulus package while operating in Iran. In February, Siemens announced it would pull out of Iran.

ThyssenKrupp

Revenue & Benefits from U.S. Government: $115.7 million

Federal Contracts: $115,729,788

Status in Iran: Active, but no new investment

ThyssenKrupp AG, a sprawling German industrial conglomerate, itself does no business in Iran but has offshoot companies that do, said Dr. Jürgen Claassen, the company's executive vice president. Sales to Iran accounted for less than 0.5 percent of total group sales, or 40 billion euros, in fiscal year 2008-2009, he said, and did not involve sales to either the defense or nuclear sectors.