Thursday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 8-24-23

The Judiciary: The Investigation Of The Exchange Rate Files Continues, And Most Of The Accused Are Referred To The Courts

Posted On2023-08-24 By Sotaliraq   The judiciary reported the continuation of investigations regarding the exchange rate files, pointing out that legal measures were taken against all the accused and they were referred to the courts after conducting an investigation with them, stressing that the theft of tax secretariats took place with the complicity of employees, some of whom are in detention and others outside Iraq.

In a statement to the official news agency, the judge of the Karkh Investigation Court, which specializes in integrity issues, Diaa Jaafar, said, “The investigation courts specialized in money laundering and organized crime cases that conduct investigations in exchange rate cases base their investigations on accurate information issued by the competent authorities,” adding that “all The accurate information that was provided to the courts, legal measures were taken regarding it.”

Jaafar added, "All the important cases that were brought before the courts took legal measures towards the arrest of the accused." He pointed out that "most of the courts referred the accused, with whom the investigations were completed, to the competent courts for a trial."

And between Jaafar, that “the court gives way in some cases by presenting evidence that proves the validity of the procedures taken by companies and banks.”

He pointed out, "These issues are technical, and the reason for investigating them is because they are linked to more than one axis, including their association with technical procedures related to the Central Bank of Iraq, which has a vision and a certain point of view in managing the currency file inside the country."

Jaafar stressed, "The Central Bank is an independent body specialized in managing monetary policy in the country, in addition to the presence of investigative bodies working to follow up on this file."

And he talked about, “The existence of different points of view on how to manage the file requires the courts to be accurate and keen to take into account more than one aspect, which is taking into account the views of the technical authorities concerned with managing this important file and taking into account the information provided by the intelligence agencies and the authorities competent to follow up this file.”

Jaafar described, "This file is one of the difficult files that must be managed according to a vision and methodology that includes more consideration on the part of the competent authorities."

And he stated, “The issue of the currency file is not only related to the inside of the country, but also to an external dimension, and we are keen to deal with all aspects of this file accurately and that the competent authority to manage the file be aware and follow-up on this issue, taking into account its procedures in order to preserve the country’s monetary policy and take into account the information provided by Before the security authorities and taking legal measures regarding them in a fundamental manner, with the need to take legal measures against manipulators of currency rates.

Jaafar stated, "All the defendants in the tax secretariat case, in which the Integrity Commission stated that there are recovery files to return them to Iraq, have taken legal measures against them, on charges of facilitating the seizure of tax secretariat amounts."

He added, "This is what we emphasized in the past periods, that the accusation will not stop at one person, but rather investigations will be completed to prove it against all the accused who participated in that."

 Jaafar noted, "The process of theft of tax secretariats was facilitated by a number of employees, some of whom are arrested and the other part outside the country, and investigations are still continuing to pursue them and force them to attend until their trial takes place."

And he continues, “The statements of a member of the House of Representatives regarding the settlement of the Anbar land issue are inaccurate, because the accused, Ahmed Kamel, was arrested pending a case related to real estate in the Fallujah region.”

And he continued, “It has not yet been proven or presented to the judiciary with investigations issued by specialized authorities that explain the process of forgery taking place,” noting that “all investigations that are conducted with land forgery are related to state employees.”

He noted, "The investigations in the case that was raised against Ahmed Kamel are still ongoing and incomplete, and the accused was released on financial bail, despite the passage of a long period of time since his arrest."

Jaafar stressed, “Not to confuse the Anbar lands issue with the case of the accused Ahmed Kamel, as the land issue is independent and related to the existence of information and forgery, but no evidence was presented to the judiciary to explain the forgery that occurred.”

He pointed out, “The court is convinced that in the event of fraud, the palaces are supposed to be assigned to the employees and property owners, if proven.”

He continued, "The case of the Anbar lands relates to a group of employees, as the court is continuing the procedures for arresting these employees from the Anbar Governorate, the governorate's municipality, and the Real Estate Registration Directorate."

And Jaafar concluded, “The investigation committees have almost completed their work, and according to what we received from the preliminary investigations, there are irregularities in the land distribution process by exploiting some loopholes in the law by relying on cooperative societies to grant lands, and during the coming period, the accused in this case will be referred to the courts.” competent.”  LINK

Al-Sudani: The Completion Of The Budget Financing Follow-Up Platform Is A First Step In Reforming The Financial System In Iraq

Political  | 06:55 - 08/23/2023  Baghdad - Mawazine News,  Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani affirmed today, Wednesday, that the completion of the budget financing follow-up platform is a first step in reforming the financial system in Iraq.

And the media office of the Prime Minister stated, in a statement, that “Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani chaired today, Wednesday, a meeting dedicated to reviewing an electronic platform, which was designed and implemented by self-efforts for the purpose of following up the financing of the budget, and the platform was prepared by a committee headed by the advisor to the Prime Minister, with membership Sectoral agencies and a number of ministries and governorates, and implemented in cooperation with the National Data Center, through which it is possible to follow up on the implementation of the budgets of ministries, governorates and government agencies that are not linked to a ministry and the expenditure doors therein.

Al-Sudani appreciated "the efforts of those working to complete this platform, and considered it a first step in reforming the financial system in Iraq by dealing with this important file," and instructed "to circulate it to spending units in all ministries and government agencies."

And he indicated, "The program is an electronic mechanism that covers the entire chain of financing the general budget, ensuring the provision of updated data with the Prime Minister, or any responsible party that makes use of the information, and the possibility of diagnosing centers of imbalance and delay early."

And he stressed, "The program will also establish new work contexts that add more accuracy and transparency to the means of disbursing public funds, and contribute to supporting financial control and following up on the volume of financing, within the tabulation prepared and meeting the priorities of the government program in various sectors." https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=233774

Iraq Announces The Final Statistics Of Oil Exports And The Revenues Generated From Them For The Month Of July

Posted On2023-08-24 By Sotaliraq   The National Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) announced the total oil exports and financial revenues achieved for the month of July.

And “SOMO” stated in its table that “the amount of exports of crude oil amounted to 106 million, 755 thousand and 169 barrels, with revenues amounting to 8 billion and 330 million and 475 thousand dollars.”

The statistics indicated that “the total exported quantities of crude oil for the month of July from the oil fields in central and southern Iraq amounted to 105 million 243 thousand and 722 barrels, and from the Qayyarah field 922 thousand and 755 barrels, and from the Kirkuk warehouse to Jordan 344 thousand and 904.” barrels,” indicating that “the average price per barrel amounted to 78,033 dollars.”

She pointed out that the exported quantities were loaded by 40 international companies of several nationalities, from the ports of Basra, Khor Al-Zubayr, mono-buoys on the Gulf, and the modern Kirkuk warehouse by tank trucks.

The Iraqi Ministry of Oil announced, at the beginning of August, the total exports and revenues achieved for the month of July.

A statement by the ministry quoted preliminary statistics issued by the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company “SOMO”, that the total amount of exports of crude oil amounted to (106) million (755) thousand and (169) barrels, with revenues amounting to (8.293) billion dollars.

The statistics indicated that the total quantities of crude oil exported for the month of July from the oil fields in central and southern Iraq amounted to (105) million and (487) thousand and 610 barrels, while the quantities exported to Jordan amounted to (344) thousand and (804) barrels. While exports from Qayyara were (922) thousand and (755) barrels.

While the average daily quantities exported (3) million and (444) thousand barrels per day.[/size]

The average price per barrel was (77.69) dollars.    LINK

The Kurdistan Regional Government Meets With All The Oil Companies Contracting With It

Posted On2023-08-24 By Sotaliraq   On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, the Kurdistan Regional Government held a meeting with the oil companies contracting with it, where it confirmed its support for those companies, and discussed with them the draft federal oil and gas law.

The meeting was held at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region, with all the oil companies contracting with the regional government, and in the presence of the Chief of the Council of Ministers, Dr. Omid Sabah, Cabinet Secretary Amanj Rahim, Acting Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Muhammad, Minister of Justice Firasat Ahmed, and Head of the Coordination and Follow-up Department in the KRG, Abdul Hakim Khosrow.

During the meeting, Omid Sabah reaffirmed the KRG's support for the oil companies, and highlighted the latest visits and talks of the KRG delegation to Baghdad, the steps to implement the budget law and the production costs of the oil companies and the KRG's directions regarding these issues, in addition to sending financial dues to the region. Kurdistan and Baghdad's position on that.

Omid Sabah also valued the work and activities of companies operating in the oil field as a “real partner of the regional government,” stressing the defense of the rights and contracts of the regional government.

The two sides agreed to continue discussions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government with the aim of addressing differences within the framework of the constitution and the budget law.

The meeting also touched on the draft oil and gas law, where the position of the regional government and the Iraqi government regarding the legislation of the law was highlighted, and the oil companies expressed their opinions and observations regarding the draft federal oil and gas law. LINK

Oil: Two International Companies Compete To Invest A “Crutch”

Baghdad: Rula Wathiq  The Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee in the House of Representatives revealed the intention to contract with two international companies to invest and develop the “Cruz” gas field in Anbar Province.

Committee member Ali Al-Mashkoor said: Two Armenian and Ukrainian companies are competing to invest in the Crutch gas field in Anbar instead of the Kukas company, noting that all hydrocarbon structures in the western region will be invested by one of the two companies that will win the investment contract.

A source in the Ministry of Oil confirmed The presence of open lines with several reputable companies to be an alternative to the “Kokaz” company to proceed with the development of the field in its previously planned stages, especially since it possesses huge reserves, in addition to the proven promising installations of large quantities of gas located near it, expressing his hope that it will be a major and main source for providing Dry gas fuel for power plants in Anbar, central and southern Iraq.

He pointed out that there are 29 promising and proven installations to provide hydrocarbons in Anbar Governorate, stressing that the region is mostly gas and outside the scope of the structural context of Iraq, which makes it rich in it and in need of development, adding that the governorates of Karbala, Najaf, and Muthanna include joint installations and are promising areas.

At the same level, The oil expert, Dr. Furat Al-Mousawi, said in an interview that a number of companies sought to obtain an investment contract for the Crutch field, but none of them succeeded in negotiating with the Ministry of Oil to win the investment contract, explaining that after ISIS took control of Anbar Province in 2014, the Korean company KOKAZ withdrew

The contract was awarded to her within the third licensing round in 2010.He pointed out that last May, during the participation of Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs and Minister of Oil Hayan Abdul Ghani in the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council, he stated that it was agreed with the Saudi side that Aramco would invest and develop the Crutch gas field in Anbar Governorate,

and the aim of its investment and development was It is to reach a production capacity of up to (400 cubic meters) per day, stressing that this offer was one of the best offers made to invest in the field for several reasons, including the history of Aramco’s global name, which gives it high reliability in investment and the oil industry, and the fact that the structures of the subsurface crutch field are shared on The length of the border line with Saudi Arabia, as there are discovered gas fields on the Saudi border side, which may be of the same extent and specifications with the free gas in the Akkas field.

Al-Moussawi pointed out that the Ministry of Oil wants to benefit from the expertise of foreign companies specialized in investing in gas fields, which have a well-known and international history in this aspect, since Iraq is counting on investing in promising gas fields and patches, after heading to invest the gas associated with oil fields, in maintaining the electric power system in Iraq.

Which suffers from many problems due to the lack of supply of dry gas from the Iraqi fields, adding that Russian companies have applied to invest in the field, but the Ministry of Oil does not want to give them more concessions in Iraq, due to the presence of large projects for it in the south, in addition to its desire to create a kind of balance in the inclusion of companies from other nationalities.

Edit: Virgin Juma  LINK