The Sudanese advisor reveals the content of the new agreement between Erbil and Baghdad and Kurdistan’s deposit of revenues
The Sudanese advisor reveals the content of the new agreement between Erbil and Baghdad and Kurdistan’s deposit of revenues
2023-03-17 06:14
Shafaq News/ Fadi Al-Shammari, the political advisor to the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’ Al-Sudani, stated, on Friday, that the agreement reached by Erbil and Baghdad within the draft budget law for the year 2023 leads to the Kurdistan Regional Government depositing all financial revenues in one central bank account, describing this agreement as fair. .
Al-Shammari said in his blog on social networking sites today, that the federal government was able to complete its recent agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, out of its commitment to implementing its governmental and political program, by placing the region’s revenues in one central account, adding that the agreement is one of the achievements of the federal government that It achieved it according to its policy based on understanding, constructive dialogue, openness, and sincere intention to reach radical solutions.
He warned that reaching an agreement depends on showing the federal government’s ability to formulate solutions and resolve crises in a serious and comprehensive manner, and sets a real strategy that preserves the unity of Iraq and under the roof of the constitution.
Al-Shammari added, “The agreement contributes to preserving wealth, as some of the region’s revenues used to go to companies in an unfair way, so our people in Kurdistan and the entire Iraqi state do not benefit from them, and now these revenues will return to the central fund.”
And he went on to say that in the budget for the current year 2023, the number will be available and the account will be announced to public opinion in the region and the federal government, so that a page of unproductive interactions that extended for several years has contributed to creating instability at the political, security and economic levels.
Al-Sudani’s advisor continued, saying that for the first time since 2003, this government takes the initiative and obtains a fair agreement between it and the regional government, which stipulates that the region’s oil revenues be placed in an open, clear, declared and monitored account by the federal government and the Audit Bureau, and is subject to the audit of an international company, referring to Any sub or invisible accounts will be closed.
Al-Shammari continued by saying that all contracts will be comprehensively reviewed and audited, and all of them will be subject to the Board of Financial Supervision, and then they will be adapted in a way that removes the injustice and damage that occurred after the contracting of the region in unstable conditions, in a way that achieves higher revenues for the benefit of the Iraqi state, at a rate of 11-15 dollars per barrel. It is unfairly acquired by companies, as he puts it.
Al-Sudani’s advisor appreciated the position of the leadership of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for its understanding and desire to resolve outstanding issues and reach practical and real agreements, and we assure our people from south to north that the roof of the state is a tent of peace, care and protection for all.
On Monday, March 13, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani announced an agreement to end the dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over the oil revenues of the Kurdistan Region.
Al-Sudani said, during a press conference held after the cabinet session, that “an agreement was reached to solve the problems between the center and the region regarding oil and gas by placing the revenues from the region’s oil in a bank.”
He added, “For the first time, we reached an agreement that the region’s oil revenues be deposited in one account and authorize the region’s prime minister and the federal prime minister to monitor the account, and there will be a committee that will submit its recommendations to the federal prime minister to take the appropriate decision.”
The oil export and revenue file in the Kurdistan Region is one of the most prominent points of contention between Baghdad and Erbil, and it was usually used as a card for political escalation when relations between the center and the region soured.
The dispute over this file escalated after the Federal Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority in Iraq) issued on February 15, 2022 a ruling that the oil and gas law in the Kurdistan Regional Government was unconstitutional.
The Federal Court obligated the Kurdistan Regional Government to hand over oil imports to Baghdad, which sparked angry reactions from the region during a period that was essentially serious political tension, as the ruling was issued in conjunction with the height of the political impasse that followed the early elections in October 2021.
shafaq.com
