Volvo halts Iran truck assembly due to U.S. sanctions
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish truckmaker AB Volvo (VOLVb.ST) has stopped assembling trucks in Iran because U.S. sanctions are preventing it from being paid, a spokesman for the company said on Monday.
FILE PHOTO - The logo of Swedish truck maker Volvo is pictured at the IAA truck show in Hanover, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
The sanctions against Iran, reimposed on Aug. 6 by U.S. President Donald Trump after his decision to pull out of a nuclear deal with Tehran, have forced companies in Germany and across Europe to reconsider their investments there.
Volvo spokesman Fredrik Ivarsson said the trucks group could no longer get paid for any parts it shipped and had therefore decided not to operate in Iran in another blow to the country’s car industry, which unlike the energy and banking sectors, had managed to sign contracts with top European firms.
“With all these sanctions and everything that the United States put (in place) ... the bank system doesn’t work in Iran. We can’t get paid,” Ivarsson told Reuters by telephone.
Before the sanctions were reimposed, Volvo had expressed an ambition for Iran to become its main export hub for the Gulf region and North Africa markets.
The European Union has implemented a law to shield its companies, but the sanctions have deterred banks from doing business with Iranian firms as Washington can cut any that facilitate such transactions off from the U.S. financial system.
Reporting by Esha Vaish in Stockholm; Editing by Alexander Smith
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