ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority's decision to ban the import and export of gold to and from the Kurdistan Region last month has triggered anger among goldsmiths and government officials.
According to a copy of the decision seen by Rudaw English, the import and export of gold is now only authorized at Baghdad and Najaf airports.
No details were given as to what prompted the decision, in effect since August 31.
Tahir Abdulla, head of Sulaimani airport described the decision as "politically motivated", adding that it is "immensely damaging” the Kurdistan Region’s economy.
"The KRG must engage in talks with the relevant authorities in the Iraqi government because this is a big deal and a serious matter concerning the economic infrastructure of the Kurdistan Region," Abdulla told Rudaw on Sunday.
"The decree details that gold cannot be imported and exported via Erbil, Sulaimani and Basra airports," Handren Warti, spokesperson for the Kurdistan Region’s Goldsmiths Syndicate told Rudaw on Sunday. "This ban has created the worst economic downturn."
Gold trader Hazhar Qadir says his company has lost two million dollars in damages due to the decision.
"We have lost more than two million dollars in damages. This is the second time that the federal government has done this to us," Qadir said referring to a previous ruling which banned the import of gold via Erbil and Sulaimani airports in mid-October 2017, as part of a series of punitive measures in response to the Kurdistan Region's independence referendum. The decree was annulled eight months later.
"We cannot stand by idly and do nothing. We will lodge a lawsuit against the Iraqi government at the Iraqi Federal Court," Qadir vowed.
Warti says the decision has harmed goldsmiths and the government alike.
"The ban has incurred major damages to the revenues that would end up in the government's treasury from taxing the imported and exported gold," Warti added.
As of Sunday, one mithqal (a measurement in the Islamic world equal to 4.25 grams) sells for 337,000 dinars ($282).
Before the ban, 15 to 20 tons of gold used to be exported to Turkey and Dubai in the UAE from Erbil airport alone on a monthly basis with the KRG levying $80 in taxes on one kilo of exported gold and $250 per kilo of imported gold.
Since the ban has taken place, Kurdistan Region traders have been unwilling to bring in gold from Najaf and Baghdad, citing security reasons.
"The gold market has completely been disrupted in the Kurdistan Region. We do not want to export gold via Baghdad or Najaf, because there is no security," Basir Mazraai, a gold businessman in Erbil.
"It was very safe for us to export our gold to UAE and Turkey from the Kurdistan Region before the ban was imposed," he added.
Additional reporting by Zhelwan Z. Wali
