The House of Russian Book may soon be opened in Iran. Representatives of the Russian Book Union and Rossotrudnichestvo told TASS on Thursday that an appropriate project is being worked out at the moment.
"At a meeting with representatives of the Iranian book industry, the idea was voiced that it would be great to create a house of Russian book, that is, a big store of Russian books. For our part, we said we were ready to support this idea," said Yevgeny Kapiyev, chairman of the Russian Book Union's International Cooperation Committee. He added that "this question is now at the stage of discussion and realization".
As the representative of the organization noted, whether this idea will be realized or not, "it is difficult to predict 100%." "It is important that Iranian colleagues support this. I have seen interest from the largest book retailer in Iran, BookCity," he said.
According to Kapiyev, in addition to selling Russian books, the house could become a center for lectures on literature, and a café could also be opened under it. "We from the Book Union are ready to support this, to provide the available technologies in franchising, to help with the purchase of books," he said.
The chairman of the organization's international cooperation committee stressed that "the current initiative cannot come [directly] from the Russian Book Union, because it is difficult to manage such a project from Russia." "A viable model is when there are people on the ground who are willing to do it," he explained. - It is also important that the project is supported by the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office in Iran."
House of Russian book and cultural center
"Rossotrudnichestvo is ready to monitor the process of creating the House of Russian Book and help in this process," said Dmitry Kalenichenko, a representative of Rossotrudnichestvo in Iran. "In fact, the creation of a cultural center and the House of Russian Book have common goals and objectives," he believes. - "Why don't we find common ground here and implement a joint project."
According to the official, "the opening of the Russian cultural center will be a much more serious and weighty event if the House of Russian books is opened along with it." "In this way, it will be possible to combine the promotion of Russian culture and the Russian language with the production and distribution of Russian textbooks and literature, which are now quite in demand in Iran," he said.
Kalenichenko also spoke in favor of the idea of expanded functionality of the book house. "Based on the way literature is treated in Iran today, we need to create a House of Russian Books with a cafe, a library and a venue for events," he added.
In April 2021, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif signed an agreement in Tehran on the establishment and conditions of cultural centers. On March 21, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said in an interview with TASS that a Russian cultural center may soon open in the Islamic republic.
Iran as a hub for Russian book producers
Importing books directly from Russia into Iran for sale is complicated by local specifics, notes Anna Golubeva, editor-in-chief of Zlatoust Publishing House. "Iran is not a signatory to any copyright convention. Selling licenses directly here is not realistic," she says. - "When we come to Iranian universities, we see our editions on the shelves (produced in Iran without observing the copyright of the publishing house - TASS)".
According to a representative of the publishing house, "the price gap between the cost of books in Russia and in Iran has grown noticeably recently". "Therefore, it is unrealistic to import from Russia here," she believes. At the same time, Golubeva notes that "the company's interest in Iran has long existed and it is trying to penetrate this market, where counterfeit editions of "Zlatoust" successfully succumb."
The company's representative sees the way out as "finding partners in Iran who will protect the interests of the publishing house." "When products are printed locally, they become more accessible to locals," she says. - "On the one hand, we are looking for ways to get our books sold in the Islamic republic, and on the other hand, Iran is very conveniently located relative to the regions where we are also interested in going out."
Golubeva explains that the idea is to use Iran as a hub to reach markets in other countries, particularly the Middle East and Africa, as well as Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. "This idea was born on the spot when we spent a few hours at an Iranian print shop and talked about their logistics with surrounding countries, which the Iranians are quite masterful at building," she explains. - In Africa, where Russia is actively penetrating, there is a demand for Russian education and for our products.
Zlatoust Center has been publishing Russian language textbooks for foreigners for over 30 years. The company supplies products and sells licenses to about 100 countries around the world.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS