Iraqi Oil Ministry welcomes KRG PM’s initiative to resolve oil row

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Oil on Monday welcomed the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister’s initiative to resolve oil revenue and budget sharing disputes.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry released a statement saying they welcomed the initiative by the KRG PM in regards to handing over the KRG’s oil exports to the federal government in Baghdad.

Baghdad in return would pay the salaries of the civil servants in the Kurdistan Region.

The Iraqi government cut the Region’s 17 percent constitutional share from the national budget in early 2014, including the civil servants’ salaries.

The budget cut encouraged the KRG to export and sell its oil independently.

In the statement, the Iraqi Ministry of Oil accused the KRG of not abiding by the previous agreement signed between Erbil and Baghdad to deliver the Kurdistan Region’s oil.

Moreover, Baghdad claimed the KRG’s independent oil sales resulted in “deficit in the federal budget in the past years.”

“It is the responsibility of the KRG to pay the salaries of the civil servants,” the statement added.

The statement concluded that the Iraqi government and Ministry of Oil were keen to alleviate the sufferings of the people of Kurdistan.

The Ministry also hoped a new agreement would be reached with the KRG where both sides stood by the deal and implemented it in a transparent way.

On Nov.27, the KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani discussed the disputes with Baghdad including the budget share and independent sale of oil.

“The priority of the KRG is to resolve the disputes with Baghdad, and if we know that the problems will be solved, we are always ready to visit Baghdad and resolve the issues especially the budget issue,” PM Barzani said.

“If Baghdad is ready to pay the salaries of the civil servants in the Kurdistan Region, we are ready for an agreement with them,” the PM concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany