An agreement has been reached with the regional government to review its oil contracts to adapt them constitutionally

Baghdad - INA

The head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, announced today, Thursday, an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to review its oil contracts to adapt them constitutionally.

The media office of the Council of Representatives stated in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "the parliamentary finance committee delegation currently visiting Erbil, headed by Atwan Atwani, held an expanded technical meeting with representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government, today, Thursday, in the building of the Council of Ministers of the region; to discuss resolving the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil.".
 
Atwani said - according to the statement: "The meeting reviewed the files of oil, financial revenues, automation of border crossings, unification of customs tariffs, and localization of employees' salaries." 
He added, "We have developed a roadmap to resolve the points of contention between the central government and the regional government regarding the oil export file." 

Atwani confirmed that "the attendees reached an initial agreement with the regional government to conduct a comprehensive review of oil contracts to adapt them to the Iraqi constitution, in preparation for resolving the problem of the region's halt in oil exports," explaining that "the agreement stipulates that the central government and the regional government enter as a unified party in negotiations with international oil companies operating in the region; to amend their contracts from production partnership to profit-sharing, in addition to reviewing the economic and commercial conditions."

He pointed out that "the parliamentary finance committee is working to establish a sound basis for negotiating a solution to the outstanding issues, to resolve the oil export file during this year and eliminate the differences with the region," stressing that "the committee will meet with the federal oil ministry upon its return to Baghdad, to discuss the controversial issues and push towards resolving them under the umbrella of the constitution." 

Al-Atwani continued, "The meeting reviewed, in numbers, the steps for implementing the file of localizing the salaries of the region's employees, where the necessity of adhering to the decisions of the Federal Court was emphasized."

Al-Atwani pointed out - according to the statement - that "the meeting also discussed the file of border crossings, customs and taxes, and ways to include their revenues in the country's general budget, and the extent of the regional government's commitment to sending these funds to the federal government."