Cabinet holds the 12th session, decisions included

INA - LIVE UPDATES

The Cabinet held on Tuesday, the 12th regular session chaired by PM Muhammed S. Al-Sudani

During the session, the Cabinet issued a number of decisions, including approving the controls for regulating the dealings of beneficiary entities with letters of guarantee issued in their favor and obligating the Ministry of Finance to pay the Iraqi Trade Bank’s dues owed to the Kurdistan region.

They discussed the general situation in the country as the most important service and economic files were reviewed, deliberating on the issues on the agenda and made the necessary decisions thereon, according to a statement by the PM Media Office, received by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.

In the energy sector, the Cabinet approved the following:

1. Approval was granted to authorize the Minister of Finance or her delegate to sign an amendment to the loan agreement for financing the Babil 400 kV power plant rehabilitation project. This project is funded by the Swedish loan with JPM Bank.

2. Approval was granted for the financing terms of the loan, as outlined in the letter from the Ministry of Finance dated February 25, 2024.

In line with the government's priorities on administrative reform, the Cabinet approved the following:

1. Approval of regulations for handling beneficiary entities' dealings with issued letters of guarantee in their favor, taking into account the remarks of the Ministerial Council for Economy recorded in its letter dated January 14, 2024, and amending Article (17) of the regulations as detailed in the memorandum of the Legal Department of the General Secretariat of the Cabinet dated March 14, 2023.
2. Approval to accept a certified check or letter of guarantee, considering the validity period of the certified check, and the beneficiary entity is to renew it before its expiry until the need ceases. 

Within the financial and banking reform efforts, the Cabinet issued a decision obligating the Federal Ministry of Finance to pay the installments for the years (2023, and 2024) amounting to 636 billion dinars for each year, owed to the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) by the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, to be deducted from the Kurdistan Region's allocations for 2024.

The Cabinet endorsed the special recommendations for settlement procedures of foreign debt cases, as outlined in Cabinet Resolutions No. 28 of 2014 and No. 48 of 2018:

1. Modification of paragraphs (1 and 2) of the Cabinet Resolution No. 28 of 2014 as follows:
   a. Modification of paragraph (1) to be: Authorize ministries and state agencies to negotiate with creditor companies that have a final judicial ruling, which have seized or have not seized Iraqi government institutions' funds abroad, to settle for less than the principal amount without interest, giving them priority in contracting with state departments for projects or governmental contracts in exchange for the creditor dropping the entire debt amount and interests and canceling the legal action taken.
   b. Modification of paragraph (2) to: Negotiations and formation of negotiation committees are to be conducted by the related entities under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice, as it is exclusively concerned with following up foreign lawsuits, and each case is to be presented individually to the Cabinet for ratification.
   c. Continuation of the implementation of Cabinet Resolution No. 48 of 2018.
2. Consideration of the opinion of the Legal Department in the General Secretariat of the Cabinet.

The session also approved the following:
First/ Cancellation of the recommendations of the sixth meeting of the Chinese Framework Agreement issued by the Cabinet Resolution (24006 of 2024).
Second/ Cancellation of the Cabinet Resolution (24059 of 2024) regarding the completion of the new Nasiriyah Oil Depot and the model school buildings funded by the Chinese Agreement.
Third/ Adoption of the projects approved by the Cabinet Resolution (24130 of 2023), with an annual allocation of 7059 billion dinars, instead of 7137 billion dinars, signed by the committee.

Additionally, the session approved the following:
1. Termination of the project (construction of an international stadium in the center of Nineveh Governorate for 22,813,000,000 dinars), based on technical reports from the consultancy affiliated with the Al-Mustansiriyah University College of Engineering, recommending the complete demolition of the structure along with the foundations, also the advisory body/ the governor's technical advisor's endorsement of the consultancy's opinion for complete demolition of the foundations, taking into consideration the project expenses, completion rates, and transfer funds after termination in compliance with Ministry of Planning guidelines.
2. Consideration of the request to include the project of constructing the Nineveh Central Stadium with an indoor sports hall on the right side of Mosul as a turnkey project within the province's projects for 2023 as stated in the Federal Budget Law (13 of 2023) with a total amount of 36,200,000,000 dinars after completing.
3. Nineveh Governorate is fully responsible for the accuracy of the information provided to the Ministry of Planning.
Regarding the contract with the Turkish company Tarmaş for the school buildings project, the council decided to approve accepting the previously submitted letter of guarantee to the Ministry of Industry and Minerals. This will be done outside the electronic guarantee letter platform until the company can reissue the guarantee letter within the electronic platform once it has the necessary financial liquidity.

The Cabinet approved the Ministry of Finance's contract with the Scientific Consultancy Office at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, University of Baghdad, College of Science, to finalize the update of the Integrated Financial Management and Information System (IFMIS), exempt from Government Contracts Implementation Instructions (2 of 2014).

Approval has been granted for the sale of residential land plots totaling 4176 plots in district 21, Haydariya, to the personnel of the General Secretariat of the Imam Hussein Holy Shrine. This decision is made as an exception from the public bidding procedures, in accordance with the Selling and Renting State Property Law No. 21 of 2013, as amended. The sale will be conducted through a lottery system, excluding those who have benefited from Cabinet Resolution No. 20 of 2019. This decision is made in consideration of Articles 4 and 15/first/a of the aforementioned law.

In the context of organizing union work, the recommendation of the Ministerial Council for Human Development (24004) for the year 2024 was approved. It includes obliging the Iraqi Engineers Union (IEU) to address the issue of registering and accrediting engineering colleges and departments to be members of the IEU.

Furthermore, the Cabinet approved authorizing the Director-General of the General Commission for Taxes with to negotiate and initial the treaty for prevention of double taxation and tax evasion on income and capital between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the Republic of Latvia, based on constitutional provisions. Additionally, authorization was granted to the Minister of Finance to negotiate and sign the final form of the agreement.

The approval was also granted for the bill on the ratification by the Republic of Iraq of the Air Services Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It has been referred to the Council of Representatives in accordance with constitutional provisions.