TNT:
Tishwash: Parliamentary demands to quickly include the 2023 budget on the agenda: delaying it paralyzes the economic sectors
A member of the Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, Zainab Al-Moussawi, called today, Thursday, for the Presidency of the House of Representatives to include the budget law for the year 2023 on the agenda in the upcoming sessions.
Al-Moussawi said, in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “disrupting the approval of the federal financial budget for the year 2023 completely paralyzes the economic sectors in the country, in addition to the direct and broad impact on the lives of citizens, in light of the dependence of thousands of workers on investment projects related to the budget.”
Al-Moussawi called for “the need to include the financial budget law for the year 2023 on the agenda of the House of Representatives for the upcoming sessions, in order to approve it.”
Al-Moussawi indicated that “the financial budget represents the main tool for achieving the state’s general policies, whether economic, social or service, and it is a presentation of the government’s plans and annual programs that it prepares in response to challenges.”
The Council of Ministers had referred the draft federal budget law to the House of Representatives. Link
CandyKisses: What did the Foreign Minister discuss with the Russian ambassador to Iraq?
Baghdad, Iraq Today:
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein received the Russian Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Elbrus Kotrachev.
During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance prospects for cooperation in all fields to serve the mutual interests of the two peoples and countries.
They also discussed developments in the region of common interest, where the importance of reducing tensions and relying on dialogue in resolving outstanding issues in order to establish peace in the region was stressed, and Minister Çavuşoğlu stressed the importance of reaching understandings and settlements on the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war and avoiding its continuation because its repercussions affect global security in general and food and energy security in particular.
They also discussed the issue of Iraqi refugee migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border, and the minister stressed that the Iraqi government has taken actual steps for the return of citizens wishing to return to Iraq.
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Tishwash: The Kurdish Movement for Change reveals the main points of disagreement between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the oil and gas law
A member of the Kurdistan Parliament for the Movement for Change, Dilir Abdul Khaleq, revealed the points of agreement and disagreement in the oil negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil.
Abdul Khaleq said in a statement that, according to my follow-up, the discussions between the delegations of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government, after the issuance of the decision of the Paris Arbitral Tribunal, are as follows:
- Iraq and the Kurdistan Region export 500 thousand barrels of oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, of which 400 thousand barrels belong for the Kurdistan region and 100,000 barrels for Kirkuk.
- The process of exporting oil through the port of Ceyhan must be resumed as soon as possible, which is necessary for the province as it is necessary for the federal government.
- Early next week, the federal budget bill will be submitted to the House of Representatives. It is clear that delivering the value of (500) thousand barrels is part of the federal budget bill for the years (2023, 2024, 2025).
4- Before the decision of the Paris Arbitration Court, the two sides agreed on a mechanism for the joint management of oil, but after the decision, the level of the federal government’s demands increased, as follows:
- Oil sales must be returned to SOMO.
- Instead of the term “management,” the Federal Ministry of Oil should “oversee” the process.
Q: The federal government cannot afford corporate debt of more than $4 billion.
D – the position of Deputy Ministry of Natural Resources / for the Kurdistan Regional Government will be the share of the federal government.
C – Oil must be exported and the Ministry of Oil has its own mechanism for this process.
In response, the KRG delegation insisted on the following points:
- As mentioned in the State Administration Agreement, oil money should be deposited in a bank account under the supervision and audit of the federal government and only the KRG should have the right to spend it.
- Appointment of a deputy director of SOMO from the Kurdistan region.
- The oil and gas law must be enacted as soon as possible, so that the rights of the Kurdistan region in managing the energy sector are established, so that the two governments jointly manage the region’s oil.” He concluded by saying, “The result of these discussions; The two sides agree on the necessity of re-exporting, but they differ on the export mechanism and means of sale. link
