KTFA: Samson: President of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce: We cooperate with Russia and have developed solutions to the issue of transportation and payments
21st October, 2022
On Thursday, October 20, the Russian-Iraqi Business Forum was held in the Russian capital, Moscow, with the participation of an Iraqi delegation and the presence of the head of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce, Abdul Razzaq Al-Zuhairi.
In addition to representatives of leading companies interested in importing food industries, timber, minerals, building materials and agricultural machinery, in Iraq, the meeting also included holding bilateral meetings between Russian and Iraqi businessmen. Al-Zuhairi spoke in an interview with “Sputnik” about ways to develop the industrial and trade sectors between the two countries.
What are the difficulties and obstacles facing the trade exchange between the two countries and ways to solve or avoid them?
Al-Zuhairi said: “I am visiting Russia for the fourth time, and my mission is to restore relations and work with the Russian side, because in Iraq we are very interested and know the capabilities of Russia and Russian industry. We were able to establish a business council during these years with the presence of a siege on Russia, and we in Iraq want to work with the Russians and link us with them.” Old relations and the current approach of our economy, to deal with everyone without exception.”
He continued, “Now we have an important issue that we are trying to finalize with the Russian side related to the issue of transportation because the distance is far and we have found a solution for it.
In addition to the issue of financial payments, we have in the group of participating businessmen businessmen in banks, and we held meetings with the Russian side in the banking sector for the purpose of Receipt of goods and payments to the Russian side. Russian goods are distinguished by their quality and cheap prices and are in demand in Iraq.”
The cooperation between the two countries is greater in the oil sector. Do we see cooperation in the future in other fields such as heavy industries or pharmaceuticals, especially after the success of the “Sputnik V” vaccine?
Al-Zuhairi said: “Today we have a great desire to import Russian medicines and we are interested, but unfortunately the representative of the health sector is not present. I hope that there are Russian industries inside Iraq to complement the oil industry, such as equipment and others. The law is easy and simple in Iraq and Russian companies can build factories, and get a percentage profits, according to Iraqi law, are 10 percent. This delegation is diverse from all sectors.”
One last word you would like to give to Russian businessmen?
Al-Zuhairi replied, “You are brave men. We have already been through this circumstance and the siege in Iraq for 13 years, and we have passed it. LINK
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Sir: IMO- Well this smells like BRICS + to me good people. I see visions of that Golden Dinar in the near future. Guess they are going to put all that gold they have been accumulating to use here to back the new Dinar.
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DCDriver: I see a parallel between seating their government and the midterms IMO. Let’s hope the ball really starts rolling after that
KandG: I agree – haven’t completely put the pieces of the puzzle together but the CBI being in DC meeting with the US Treasury this close certainly begs one to ask if there is a connection. We know Trump stuffed a large piece of dinar into the US Treasury (I personally saw / heard him say to Laura Ingraham in an interview). Timing of all this doesn’t seem coincidental – IMO
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Samson: Iraq invites Russian companies to explore oil in new areas
21st October, 2022
Director of the Technical Department of the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, Ali Ward Hammoud, said that Iraq is interested in partnering with Russian oil companies, and called on Russian companies to participate in new licensing rounds for unexplored oil patches.
Hammoud said today, Friday, that “in the near future, plans will be drawn up to develop these fields, and I mean here the Eridu and Al-Salman fields for the purpose of accelerated production and commercial production.”
He continued, “There is great optimism through drilling wells and exploration that the oil columns in the wells and the stock are very large, which will provide Iraq with a large production capacity, by 200 thousand barrels per day from the Arido field, and the Salman field, which is operated by the Basneft Company, is now in the evaluation stage, but there is commercial evidence for this field.”
He added, “There are plans for Lukoil in the Arido field (10th block), and this field has excellent oil evidence, and the first production from this field will be in the year 2025.” He pointed out that with regard to new projects, “there are new licensing rounds for unexplored oil patches. I guess that there will be shares for Russian companies in this matter.” LINK
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KandG: Wow – everyone wants to do business with Iraq – a country with a toilet paper exchange rate that keeps them from doing “real” business internationally. Stay away from the 1 or 2 negative articles you see – we have been flooded with articles showing multiple countries engaging with Iraq since their announcement of Pres / PM – with pressure and anticipation from the world stage – we are in good shape folks – IMO
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Samson: An Iraqi businessman reveals a plan to bypass sanctions during imports from Russia
20th October, 2022
An Iraqi businessman revealed Thursday, the mechanism for importing Iraq from Russia and bypassing US sanctions, while noting that the Iraqi market depends on Russian grain by 50%, especially with regard to feed grains
And Russian media quoted the director of the Iraqi Company for Production and Marketing, Mahmoud Atshan Dakhil, as saying, which was followed by (Baghdad Today), that “his company, as an agricultural company specialized in supplying fodder and grain (grain for feed) to Iraq, aims through its participation in the (Made in Russia) forum to Expanding business with the Russian side and consolidating direct relations with Russian companies away from intermediaries,” noting that “this will contribute to increasing purchases from Russia
On the impact of the sanctions on commercial cooperation between Russia and Iraq, the Iraqi businessman said, “The sanctions are a big obstacle, but work is underway to organize remittances with Russia through third countries,” and pointed out that “his company ships grain from Russian ports overlooking the Black Sea, and then through Turkey
Today, the events and activities of the International Export Forum “Made in Russia” were launched in Moscow, which aims to introduce international companies to Russian products and their advantages
Samson: Quotas impede opening corruption files.. Arresting the corrupt is a war decision
21st October, 2022
Ideas attribute the deteriorating economic situation in Iraq, the oil-rich country, to corruption, which drains its revenues.
The theft of $2.5 billion in tax revenues is not the first of its kind, but has been preceded by the looting of hundreds of billions of dollars since 2003.
The judicial authorities used to form investigative committees, but not a single dinar was returned to the state treasury.
In the opinion of the independent political researcher, Ali Al-Shammari, that the current environment and financial abundance are a reason for the success of any government, regardless of its shape or color, at least in the first six months… But soon corruption will gnaw at its joints to return to the zero point.
Corruption deals are mostly done through import and export deals, or by providing financial covers for fictitious projects, using forged invoices and checks, and transferring huge sums of money from official departments and banks to bank accounts outside Iraq.
And the corruption deal related to importing counterfeit “explosive detectors” from which Iraq imported about 6,000 pieces in 2007, remained ambiguous, after which it became clear that officials had concluded the deal with a British company, with an amount exceeding 400 million dollars.
The electricity sector represents one of the most prominent files that Iraq spent about 30 billion dollars to provide, according to the reports of the Iraqi Integrity Commission, while Iraqis still suffer from its absence, particularly in the summer.
An investigative report read by the obelisk states that organized crime, which in 11 months devoured $2.5 billion from the General Tax Authority, occurred when tens of thousands of Iraqis were demonstrating to demand reform, an end to corruption , and governments in a country where a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line.
The file of oil smuggling is a mystery and has cost Iraq about 150 billion dollars during the past five years only.
In 2013, sources revealed that the Iraqi Ministry of Education was involved in the process of changing the expiry date of shipments of “biscuits” intended for school students. Parliament and the government promised to open an investigation, but it was closed, even though the deal was about $69 million.
And the currency auction, provides enough space to smuggle the dollar abroad.
The economist, Daoud Hashem, believes that our loss is not theft of 2.5 billion dollars. It seems that we have been stealing continuously and in larger amounts over the past years, but rather our loss, the greatest regret and the great disappointment with the fall of parties involved in corruption, their roles were exposed.
We believed their professionalism and impartiality as the protector and the eye that never sleeps on guard Public money. And the Iraqi Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, estimated in 2017, the cost of economic losses during the war against ISIS, at more than $100 billion.
And the file of “the sinking of Iraqi funds” may be the most strange, when the former Central Bank Governor Ali Al-Alaq spoke, during his hosting in the Iraqi parliament, in November 2018, about the damage of seven billion dinars, as a result of the exposure of the Rafidain Bank’s coffers to the leakage of rainwater.
Millions of dollars were lost, due to the seizure of state real estate.
Activist Ali Atwani monitors internal looting with an external alliance, the theft of 2.5 billion dollars, and transferring the largest part of it outside Iraq. This is a corruption operation that has an international dimension, and the international factor is involved in this crime.
While the designated Defense Minister, Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, says that he will never hesitate to take real measures to curb corruption, Iraqis believe that the results are the lesson after the many statements about fighting corruption and arresting public money looters failed them.
The researcher, Adnan Abu Zeid, hints at the lack of political will in combating corruption, considering that quotas even in corruption files will prevent progress, stressing that corruption, like terrorism, needs a decisive decision, as it has armed arms that throw the corrupt in prisons. Adnan Abu Zeid said that arresting the corrupt is a decision of war. LINK
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Samson: “The theft of the century” .. a warning against a “routine” procedure that dissolves the case
21st October, 2022
Today, Friday, an economic expert warned against relying on committees formed from within ministries and parliamentary committees to investigate what has become known as “the theft of the century” from tax trust funds.
The formation of investigative committees is a recurring procedure by successive governments, until it has become a routine procedure in every incident through which it is intended to absorb people’s anger and contain their energies, whether on the street or on social networking sites.
The economic researcher, Ahmed Eid, told Shafaq News Agency, “There are huge funds that were stolen before the eyes of the regulatory and judicial authorities, and the issue of returning them to the state treasury is very important, especially as we are talking about billions of dollars in funds, and that ignoring their return is a serious matter and systematic and organized waste managed by influential parties in the Iraqi state,” stressing that “the return of these funds is the responsibility of the Iraqi judiciary.”
Eid added, “In these circumstances, we should not rely on investigative committees formed from within ministries and parliamentary committees, because this will lead to a gradual dissolution of the issue, as it happens every time,” noting that “Iraqi funds are unfortunately in unsafe hands, and their theft and waste are legitimized by Through laws and legislation on the basis of which money is allocated to the pockets of the corrupt.”
He continued, “Iraq today possesses huge sums of oil revenues, and to strengthen the Iraqi state funds, institutions must be cleaned of the corrupt, and the investment law must be activated in the interest of the country and provides full opportunities for achieving integration, in addition to tax and customs funds and support for private productive sectors.”
On the day before yesterday, the Second Karkh Investigation Court, which is specialized in integrity issues, issued an order to summon a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee from the previous session, for his involvement in the theft of tax trust funds, according to a statement of the Supreme Judicial Council received by Shafaq News Agency.
In turn, the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, “We will not tolerate the largest theft in the history of Iraq, and the Parliament will take real and serious measures until the imprisonment of those involved in this theft in cooperation with the judiciary to protect public money.”
The First Deputy called on the judiciary to take appropriate legal measures against all those accused of “stealing the century”, to deter anyone who begged himself to tamper with the people’s capabilities, and to impose the most severe penalties against those who are proven to be involved in this crime, regardless of their position, in order to preserve the money and bounties of Iraqis from the hands of the corrupt.
Earlier, the Parliamentary Integrity Committee announced that it would prepare a detailed report dealing with the theft of two and a half billion dollars from the amounts of tax trusts in the Rafidain Bank.
Abdel Wahed said during a press conference held by a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee Sarwa Abdel Wahed at the parliament building with the participation of a number of members of the committee and attended by Shafak News Agency correspondent, that the Integrity Committee stressed the need to diagnose all those involved in the theft
Adding that there was talk about the former head of the Finance Committee, who is Now the Prime Minister’s advisor, and the Prime Minister’s Office has a hand in the matter and sent a letter to the Tax Authority, and those, including the Tax Authority, Rafidain Bank and the Prime Minister’s Office, must be referred to the judiciary, prevented from traveling, investigated, and the accused arrested. LINK
