The Financial Times has an interesting piece on the perceptions of US and other Western companies among the Iranian populace. The article asserts that Iran’s roughly 80 million consumers are eager to see sanctions removed and for US firms to begin operations in the country. They also expressed interest in the arrival of German and UK firms, and imputed high quality and reliability with goods from these companies.

The article alleges that these perceptions could signal a reduction in both China and India’s current share of the Iranian market. China currently supplies roughly 18.6 percent of all of Iran’s imports, while India supplies approximately 6.4 percent. The FT article indicates that only a small minority of Iranians believe Chinese products to be high quality, while an even smaller minority used the same words to describe Indian products.

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News Briefs:

• The Russian government approved Russian airliner Aeroflot’s takeover of Transaero earlier this week. The expected takeover was transacted for the symbolic price of one Russian ruble, according to Pravda. The two airliners are the largest in Russia and were previously each other’s main competitor.

• Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has sacked Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, though he did not offer an explanation as to why. According to the Georgian prime minister, the government is refocusing its efforts and felt the need to replace Beruchashvili.

• Gazprom announced that its total natural gas output decreased by 6.7% in the month of August, representing the 14^th consecutive decrease in monthly output. The drop in production coincides with an increase in Gazprom’s total natural gas exports.

• Meetings between Kazakh President Nursaltan Nazarbayev and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping resulted in $23 billion in joint cooperation deals. The new deals span the public and private sector and included commitments to expand production at the Kazakh Pavlodar aluminum plant and to the construction of a new machinery factory in western Kazakhstan. The two sides also asserted their own willingness to increase cooperation in nuclear energy in the near-medium term.

• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, speaking on the occasion of the Ukrainian National Council for Reforms’ annual meeting, indicated that a new tax on wealth and luxury goods may be necessary in promoting tax reform in Ukraine. Poroshenko added that such an adjustment would assist small and medium size Ukrainian businesses and assist in complying with “requirements of the European Union.”