ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A high level Kurdish delegation led by Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani will visit Baghdad on Sunday to meet with their Iraqi counterparts in the latest round of negotiations between the federal government and Erbil.
A Kurdish official told Rudaw that the focus of the meetings will be Kurdistan Region’s budget that has been blocked by Baghdad for almost a year.
The Kurdish delegation will be meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, President Fuad Masum and Parliamentary speaker Salim al-Jibouri.
Rudaw has learned that Deputy PM Qubad Talabani, Kurdistan’s Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami and Finance Minister Rebaz Hamlan will be part of the delegation.
Earlier this month, Erbil and Baghdad signed an agreement by which the Kurdish region would allow Baghdad to export 150,000 barrels of oil per day from Kirkuk in return for a $500 million cash installment from the central government.
Kurdish officials said that they received the first installment this week and that they hope they will reach a substantial agreement with the central government next week on all standing disputes relating to the budget.
