ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The Kurds’ priority is reaching a solution to their disputes with Baghdad, said Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to members of his cabinet Thursday.
“Our priority has always been to reach a solution with Baghdad,” said Barzani in a cabinet meeting in Erbil. “And they [Baghdad] understand that we are seeking solutions.”
Barzani met with members of his cabinet just days after his government reached an agreement with the federal government on revenue sharing, Kurdistan’s oil exports and funding the Kurdish Peshmerga forces by the Iraqi defense ministry.
“Iraq is in a very bad financial situation and the halt in oil exports has caused it big problems,” he said. “Also the previous [Iraqi] cabinet had spent a lot of money which is unclear what for.”
According to the agreement, Iraq receives 550,000 barrels of oil per day from Kirkuk and Kurdish oilfields in return for sending Kurdistan Region’s 17 percent share of the national budget.
“The federal government wants to draw a new budget based on $70 for a barrel of oil and that is what we will provide,” the prime minister explained.
Barzani said that the recent agreement will be incorporated into Iraq’s 2015 budget.
According to Barzani, the Iraqi government has also admitted that it owes the Kurdistan Region 16 trillion dinars, and expenses incurred by foreign oil companies operating in the region.
The Iraqi government blocked Erbil’s budget in January, causing severe financial strain to the Kurdish government. In the new agreement however, Baghdad will release the funding beginning of next year.
