ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia’s trade ties with the Kurdistan Region are getting stronger, the spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry said on Friday. “Our consulate general has been operating in Erbil for a long time. There is an exchange of formal delegations between us. Our trade relations are developing. The improvement of relations is in the interest of both sides,” Maria Zakharova told Rudaw in a press briefing on Friday. Maxim Rubin, Moscow’s consul general to Erbil, told Rudaw in June that Russia has “historic” ties with Kurds in the Kurdistan Region and is committed to strengthening the centuries-long relations, despite current difficulties. Russian oil companies Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, and Rosneft have operations in the Kurdistan Region and in oilfields in southern Iraq. In December, Lukoil acquired an additional 20 percent of the massive Eridu oil field in southern Iraq’s Dhi Qar province after a Japanese company sold half its stake, bringing Lukoil’s stake in the field to 80 percent. Kurdish oil exports through a pipeline through Turkey have been halted since March 2023. Iraq and Russia first established diplomatic relations in 1944. Niyaz Mustafa contributed to this article.
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