TEHRAN, March 7 (Shana) � Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh supported Ukraine�s presence in Iran�s oil industry saying the east European country can cooperate in manufacturing of turbines and gas compressors.

In a meeting with the visitng Ukranian vice prime minister Genadi Zobkov here on Monday, he said that the bilateral oil industry ties which date back to long time ago can continue in the post-sanctions era.

He stressed identification of Tehran-Kiev cooperation opportunities and said that to be successful in Iran�s oil industry projects, Ukrainian companies need to totally finance the operation by the banks in their country.

Zangeneh said Iran has outlined numerous projects for investment by foreign firms including in the petrochemicals as the sector needs 50 billion dollars in investment for the coming years which can partly be financed by foreign companies.

�Oil and gas industry�s upstream sector is also in need of investment to the tune of 130 billion dollars which has to be supplied by the resources overseas because we cannot provide it based on our current revenues� said Zangeneh.

By SHANA