Saturday Evening Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-9-22

The Oil And Gas Law Between Baghdad And Erbil Is A Paper In Government Negotiations

Arabic reports   Baghdad   Zaid Salem  Jul 09 2022   An oil refinery in Erbil, November 2016 (Hamid Hussein/Anadolu Agency)   The file of the "oil and gas" law appears on the tables of political dialogues related to the formation of the Iraqi government , between Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region in the north of the country, especially after the withdrawal of the "Sadr movement" from the political process , which further complicated the crisis.

The opening of the law file currently coincides with the decision of the Federal Court , in mid-March, which considered the region's oil activities in isolation from Baghdad a legal violation. This led to the suspension of the work of some foreign oil companies in compliance with the decision, such as the American companies "Schlumberger" and "Baker Hughes" for oil field services.

The Kurdistan Regional Government considers that Baghdad is exerting pressure on foreign companies operating in the region’s cities, while confirming, in its official statements, that it will defend the region’s financial dues and constitutional rights by all means, and what guarantees its entitlements, including the results of the recent elections, and its shares in the ministries, at a time when The Federal Supreme Court has challenged the unilateral actions of the regional government in the field of extracting and exporting oil from the oil fields there, in isolation from Baghdad.

Oilfield Management File Negotiating Paper

Political sources in the Kurdistan region confirm that the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, is currently pressuring the political forces and parties affiliated with the "Coordination Framework" coalition, to place the file of Erbil's management of the oil and gas fields in the region among the most prominent negotiating papers with those forces related to forming the new government. .

The Kurdistan Regional Government is disturbed by the decisions of the Federal Court regarding the Kurdish oil file

The oil and gas law in Iraq, which has been in parliament since 2005 due to political differences with Kurdish forces, stipulates that the responsibility for managing the country’s oil fields should be entrusted to a national oil company, supervised by a federal council specialized in this matter, meaning that Baghdad is responsible. About oil in Kurdistan, which Erbil rejects, and considers it a measure that violates the constitution.

The point of contention between Baghdad and Erbil also lies in the Iraqi constitution, which in recent years has turned into a subject of widespread controversy over its loose articles that are subject to interpretation and interpretation in more than one way.

Baghdad says that Article 112 of the constitution granted the federal government the right to manage all natural resources, including oil, gas, iron, phosphate, and others. But Erbil clings to a phrase mentioned in the same article, in which it talks about the "partnership" between the federal government and the region in managing the resources in the three provinces of the region, and through which it rejects the absolute authority of Baghdad over the file, and gives itself the right to manage the current extraction and exploration operations and even contract with foreign companies .

Deportation Of The Oil Law Four Years

Responsible sources from the Kurdistan region told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "some leaders and actors and contribute to the dialogues to form the new government, made a promise to the region that the oil and gas law will be carried over to four new years, which is part of the demands of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil from Coordinating Framework Forces.

Arab economy   Is the "white paper" behind the recovery of the Iraqi economy or oil?

She explained that "the regional government is disturbed by the decisions of the Federal Court regarding the Kurdish oil file, and officials in the region believe that there is a push by political parties towards tension, causing the court to issue decisions against the region."

According to the sources, the oil file and granting Erbil the right to manage it, or at least continue the current situation, is strongly present in the negotiations of the Kurdish blocs with the "Coordination Framework" alliance, and there is a Kurdish political agreement from the various parties of the region on this.

Armed Factions Refuse To Pass A Deal With Erbil

She pointed out that some armed factions, such as "Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq" and "Hezbollah Brigades", the most prominent rejection of any new deal with Erbil related to the oil file, while the rest of the parties in the "coordinating framework" do not object to a settlement that ends the current political crisis, including Oil part.

For his part, Imad Baglan, a member of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party in Erbil, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the Kurdistan region seeks to "guarantee the rights of the Kurds," confirming that the oil and gas file is at the heart of the dialogues to form the next government. Paglan added that "the introduction of energy or economy and other matters related to the benefits from us, is not wrong."

He spoke of what he described as "a political will that seeks to spread accusations against the Kurdistan region, such as stealing Iraqi oil, normalization with Israel, and sponsoring suspicious foreign interests. These lies are supported by media machines funded by Iraqi money," describing Erbil's position in the oil and gas crisis as "striking out". From the heart of the constitution and consistent with the nature of Iraqi laws."

Kurdistan Must Hand Over Oil Quotas To The Federal Government

However, member of the Coordination Framework, Muhammad Al-Sihoud, indicated, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that "the oil and gas law has been suspended since 2005, meaning that the Kurdistan region must be subject to Iraqi laws, and hand over the quotas of oil to the federal government, not to mention the Being obliged, according to the law, to hand over compensation for the past years.

Some Armed Factions Reject Any New Deal With Erbil Related To The Oil File

He added, "This law is one of the parliament's priorities in the next stage, so it is not possible to accept a political settlement that leads to the deportation of the law, even if some political parties in the coordination framework support this settlement in order to form the new government."

Chihod stressed that "the forces of the coordination framework that reject the oil and gas law in force in Kurdistan prevail, and that most political forces want to listen to the conditions of the framework, not to the conditions of political entities on the framework, and there are priorities, including preventing violations of laws by the regional government."

Muhammad Al-Sihoud: The forces of the coordination framework that reject the oil and gas law in force in Kurdistan prevail

For his part, political analyst Ahmed Al-Sharifi said, "The formation of the government in the current situation and the current stalemate after the withdrawal of the Sadrist movement made the forces of the coordination framework accept any condition in order to form a government acceptable to all parties and components. Therefore, the framework is ready to sacrifice the oil and gas law during the next government." In order to manage political matters, and of course, the Kurdish forces want to continue to follow their oil and gas law."

Al-Sharifi said, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, that "the current dialogues between the political forces are not final, but the presentation of the file of laws, which the regional government considers harmful to it, aims to know the views on this, and it may not be directly related to the guarantees for forming the government, because Everything is related to Sadr's future steps, and that the region is seriously considering preventing Baghdad from affecting its oil and gas production and export operations."

It is noteworthy that the Kurdistan region produces between 400,000 and 420,000 barrels of oil per day, most of which is exported through Turkish territory, and a small percentage of it remains for domestic consumption, while the Council of Ministers of the Region, during a recent meeting, confirmed the existence of “unfair pressures on international investors in the oil and gas sector.” in the region,” calling for its abolition.  LINK

Al-Kazemi's Advisor Talks About (Promising Opportunities) To Achieve Reform Projects And Economic Progress

Economie| 02:18 - 09/07/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, outlined the stages of cooperation of the international community to help Iraq economically, while noting that the white paper is the product of this cooperation.

Salih said, "International cooperation in assisting Iraq economically extends to the Madrid Donors Conference held in October 2003, in which the foreign ministers of 77 countries pledged to provide aid for the reconstruction of Iraq with an amount exceeding 33 billion dollars to restore the infrastructure destroyed by wars and the siege." former economist.

In an interview with the official news agency, Mawazine News, Saleh added, "Many of these grants have been verified, but their financial effects were limited due to the mismanagement of the reconstruction operations at the time."

He pointed out that "the international community did not skimp on writing off more than $100 billion of debts owed by Iraq, which is Iraq's pre-1990 debt, under the Paris Club Agreement of 2004."

He continued, "The international community then continued to support Iraq, and this was embodied by the (Tokyo Declaration) by the Group of Seven major industrialized countries in their statement announced in May 2016, which supported Iraq financially and economically to confront its dual economic and security crisis at the time, and the Kuwait Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq in The year 2018, which helped sustain UN aid to finance stabilization operations in the liberated areas after the victory over ISIS terrorism.

And he added: “During the double financial and health crisis that our country was subjected to in the year 2020, the international community sensed Iraq’s need for international aid to reform the economy and reorganize it in order to achieve sustainable development and combat decline and corruption, so it was formed in London in the middle of the year 2020, what was called ( The Iraq Economic Contact Group (IECG) (composed of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the Group of Seven major industrial countries).

He continued: "The aforementioned contact group expressed its willingness to support financial and economic reform projects in our country and to reorganize the financing, production and governance sectors, and the white paper was the result of that cooperation," he concluded by saying: "I see that Iraq has many serious and promising opportunities to benefit from the intentions of the international community." Positively towards achieving reform projects and economic progress in Iraq. Ended 29/N33

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=198948

Iraq.. Two-Thirds Of The Army's Members Are Among The Injured And The Elderly

political| 04:05 - 09/07/2022  Baghdad - Mawazine News, the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasoul, confirmed that two-thirds of the number of Iraqi army personnel are injured and suffer from chronic diseases and the elderly.

Rasool said, "Two thirds of the Iraqi army's members are injured and suffer from chronic diseases and the elderly, as they are over forty-five years old, stressing the need to pump the blood of young fighters to enhance the capabilities of the army."

He added, "The missile attacks are not in the interest of the Iraqi people, and there was condemnation after the incident of the missile attack on the Kormore field, and there was a joint investigation committee from the Ministry of Peshmerga and also the Iraqi security forces, and it is continuing the investigation process to find out who did this work towards the gas fields."    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=198953

Four Billion Dinars In Duhok Tourism Revenues Per Month

Economic   Last Update 07/09/2022 | 10:03 AM    The Information/Baghdad..The head of the Hotel Association in Dohuk, Ihsan Sheikh Issa, stated that tourism revenues in the province are estimated at more than four billion dinars per month.

Sheikh Issa said in an interview seen by "The Information", that "any tourist visiting the Kurdistan region spends more than 200 dollars a day, whether for food, hotel or shopping."

He added, "Tourists who visit France spend 190 euros per day, which is the highest in the world," stressing that "those who visit Kurdistan do not spend less than this amount, if not more."

Earlier, the General Authority for Tourism revealed that 3 million and 112,000 tourists visited the Kurdistan region in the first six months of the year, and expected that the number of tourists would increase this year compared to last year. finished/25    https://almaalomah.me/2022/07/09/607683/

  A Statement From The Head Of The Service Council Regarding (The Thousand Job Grades) For Each Governorate  

Political | 12:53 - 09/07/2022      Baghdad - Mawazine News   The Federal Service Council clarified, on Saturday, that it did not assume the task of hiring within the nodal degrees allocated to the governorates in the Emergency Support Law for Food Security and Development.

The head of the council, Mahmoud Al-Tamimi, said in an interview with the official news agency, which was followed by (Mawazine News), that "the thousand nodal degrees that were approved in the Food Security Law did not entrust the recruitment process in it to the service council, but to the governors, who started the procedures for announcing it according to their needs and distributing it to the departments in the every province.

Al-Tamimi added, "The legislation of the law came with a mechanism that relies on equality in the number of degrees for all governorates without regard to the number of population or disadvantaged people in all governorates, but rather chose a unified number for each governorate."

He pointed out that "some governors submitted a request to the government that the service council carry out the process of employing the thousand nodal degrees, but the council did not receive any assignment for this process and remained away from the procedures and mechanism by which the recruitment of the thousand degrees is carried out for each governorate."

And he continued, "The council does not know the criteria or the method in which the selection is made officially, because it did not want anything about these grades, although it was ready to take on this task, but the government's decision and the decision of the provinces came that they are the ones who start the recruitment process, which is a respectable decision for the service council despite The council was established for employment in all areas of the Iraqi state, regardless of whether the jobs were local or federal.

He pointed out that "the departments affiliated to the governorates to which the powers have been transferred will be covered by degrees, and not the departments affiliated with the federal ministries or those linked to the headquarters of the ministries in the federal government, which means that more degrees will go to local governments in each province."

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=198944

Resources Are Taking A New Package Of Measures To Confront Water Scarcity

2022-07-09 | 07:42  612 views  Today, Saturday, the Ministry of Water Resources announced a new package of measures to confront water scarcity and preserve strategic reserves.

And the Government Media Cell in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers revealed, in a statement received by Alsumaria News, about “measures that I have taken.” Ministry of Water Resources

To face the water scarcity that he suffers fromIraq, as a result of the non-compliance of the upper river statesTigrisEuphrates, preparing a shareIraqand cutting off the sources of some rivers, which greatly affected the water revenues and formed a shortage of the country’s strategic reserves. and she decided to Ministry of Water Resources According to the statement, the following procedures are taken:

1- Follow up, organize and control water releases and ensure justice in water distributions between governorates according to the general water budget prepared by the ministry, and in cooperation with Ministry Of Agriculture  Giving priority to the provision of drinking water and then securing water to irrigate orchards as a national necessity, while defining the areas that can be cultivated with the available water quotas, as the Ministry’s staff working in the governorates applied a strict Marashna system to achieve justice in water distributions between one governorate and another and within the same governorate, as well as For following up the distribution of water to ensure that it reaches all the main rivers in good quantity and quality.

Resources are assured about the water quota of the current agricultural plan: fully secured

2022-06-30   Immediate measures to address water scarcity in Diyala

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08:55 | 2022-06-23  2- The staff of the Engineering and Technical Ministry implement and establish new pumping stations according to need and priority, while maintaining the old stations periodically to ensure the continuity of water flow in the main and secondary rivers and irrigation projects in light of the low levels of water in the irrigation network in general and work on the success of agricultural plans and the delivery of raw water to silts Water and reduce the effects and challenges of water scarcity, according to scientific programs and within proactive future plans and mobilization of all cadres of the Ministry.

3- Implementation of a wide campaign to purify the network of streams and sewers, with a total length of (25,000) thousand km, with the aim of ensuring the smooth delivery of water to the liquefaction stations by taking advantage of the ministry’s capabilities from the available energies, despite their scarcity.

4- Raising mud deposits from the front of dams, dams, and main and secondary river courses, with an amount of (14 million / m3), and using specialized mechanisms belonging to the irrigation department, one of the formations Ministry of Water Resources.

5- Drilling wells in areas far from surface water sources and liquefaction stations, with a number of (533) wells in all governorates for the public benefit using the drilling rigs of the General Authority for Groundwater (one of the Ministry’s formations).DiyalaOf them (200) with the start of a campaign to implement the drilling of (100) new wells for the purpose of treating water scarcity in them, in addition to the Ministry’s achievement of removing (81%) of the abuses of various types and forms from the water system within the current year, to stop the waste of water, which is the most expensive type of waste with wealth Country.   LINK