Kurdistan
The Kurdistan Region Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab (left) speaking to Rudaw's Ranj Sangawi on April 30, 2023. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab on Sunday said that the ruling from The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in March was not related to the Kurdistan Region’s oil, but rather disagreements between Turkey and Iraq.
The Paris-based ICC on March 23 ruled in favour of Iraq against Turkey regarding exports of Kurdistan Region oil through Turkey’s Ceyhan port, saying Ankara had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement that obliges the Turkish government to abide by instructions issued by Iraq regarding the transport of crude oil exported from Iraq.
The decision was followed by an immediate stoppage of Kurdish oil exports, which subsequently forced oil companies to halt their operations in the Kurdistan Region.
“The Paris court’s decision has nothing to do with the Kurdistan Region’s oil, but rather it is in regards to a legal disagreement between Iraq and Turkey,” Janab told Rudaw’s Ranj Sangawi on Sunday.
The finance minister called the ruling “a positive” for the Kurdistan Region as it has acknowledged the legitimacy of the Region’s oil industry.
While Ankara has been ordered to pay around $1.5bn in damages, Baghdad must also pay over $527 million to Turkey in reimbursement claims related to equipment and personnel as stipulated by the court ruling.
On April 4, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani signed an agreement to resume the Region’s exports, but there is still no oil flowing through the pipeline to Turkey.
Not enough funds to pay April salaries
Janab said that they currently do not possess the necessary funds to pay the civil servant salaries for the month of April, adding that Baghdad is responsible for providing the Region’s salaries under the current circumstances.
“The funds we have available at the moment is not enough to pay the salaries of April,” said the finance minister, adding “According to agreements and the budget bill, whenever there is no export of oil, the responsibility [paying salaries] lies on the shoulders of the Iraqi federal government.”
Janab added that Baghdad is yet to send the Region's monthly financial entitlement of 400 billion dinars.
The Iraqi cabinet approved the payment of 400 billion dinars to the Region for the months of November and December last year. However, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court later ruled against Baghdad's payment of the Kurdistan Region’s financial entitlements, claiming it violates the 2021 Iraqi Budget Law.
The budget has been a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad for several years, especially after the Kurdistan Region's decision to sell its oil through Turkey, and the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq in 2014.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers in mid-March approved the federal budget bill for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, which is currently before the Iraqi parliament. The draft budget sets out $152 billion in spending for 2023, of which the Kurdistan Region takes a 12.6 percent share.
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