KRG signs second agreement with an international auditing company

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signs a new agreement with an international company to audit the process of production, sale and export of oil and gas in the Kurdistan Region.

In a ceremony on Wednesday, the KRG signed an agreement with the multinational professional services firm, Ernst and Young, to audit oil and gas processes in the Kurdistan Region.

According to a statement released on KRG website, the KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani stated that “the agreement is an important step by the Kurdistan Regional Government to be more transparent in the oil and gas revenues and expenditures.”

PM Barzani said that “transparency in the sector is his government’s top priority,” adding that the agreement will further strengthen the transparent and independent auditing process for oil and gas sector.”

“Senior government officials and the Head of British Consulate-General in the Kurdistan Region participated in the signing ceremony, which took place at the Council of Ministers in Erbil,” the KRG statement read.

In early October, KRG signed another agreement with a US-based international auditing company Deloitte to audit oil and gas production and revenues in the Kurdistan Region.

The decision is in lieu of the KRG’s efforts to achieve more transparency in the government.

In mid-2016, in the midst of a two-year economic crisis which resulted in deteriorating nominal of financial assets, the KRG’s Ministry of Planning and World Bank jointly launched their three-year roadmap of reform in the Region. 

Editing by Ava Homa