“Tidbits From TNT” Tuesday Morning 12-9-2025
TNT:
Tishwash: Sudani receives a delegation from the American company Chevron to continue discussions regarding investment in the Nasiriyah oil field.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani received on Tuesday a delegation from the American company Chevron, headed by the company’s Vice President Joe Ketch, in the presence of the Minister of Oil, and a number of advisors and officials in the oil sector.
According to a government statement received by Dijlah News, “The meeting witnessed the completion of discussions regarding investment in the Nasiriyah field, and the possibility of cooperation with regard to the Qurna/2 field
Where the Prime Minister pointed out the need to achieve the required results from the discussions between the Ministry of Oil and Chevron, stressing that Iraq’s vision in the field of energy drives cooperation with international companies, and that they should contribute to the transfer of technology and the development of Iraqi competencies.”
Al-Sudani explained that “the government focuses, in its cooperation with international companies, on taking environmental aspects into consideration, and taking into account the social benefits and urban development of the areas where the oil fields are located, and that government planning is directed towards expanding the refining capacity of all Iraqi refineries, and establishing the petrochemical industry in Dhi Qar Governorate, and the rest of the oil-producing governorates.”
For its part, the company delegation affirmed its commitment to developing bilateral agreements, supporting the Iraqi government’s vision of making Iraq an energy hub in the Middle East, and planning for long-term cooperation and partnership development to ensure the actual development of oil fields. link
Tishwash: The Sudanese directs the completion of the requirements for the development road
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani chaired a meeting of the Higher Committee for the Development Road on Monday, in the presence of the Ministers of Transport and Industry, the Executive Director of the Iraq Development Fund, a number of advisors to the Prime Minister, general managers, and representatives of the consulting companies KBR and Oliver Wyman.
During the meeting, the topic of the auditing company and the timelines proposed by it regarding the completion of the audit of the railway and road designs were discussed, as well as the design costs for the railway line and the road, in addition to discussing the operating plans submitted by Oliver Wyman and BTP.
According to a statement from his media office, Al-Sudani directed that the best plan be chosen and a comprehensive summary be presented at the next meeting, stressing the need to decide on the options presented for discussion, pointing to the importance of the project for the future of Iraq, and the need to proceed with and intensify the work with specialists to complete its requirements.
The meeting reviewed the progress rates of all the component projects of the Strategic Development Road project, and the legal mechanisms by Iraqi specialists and KBR Consulting Company, for the contract to operate the Grand Faw Port under a joint management system with Abu Dhabi Ports Company
In addition to Oliver Wyman Company providing a detailed explanation of the principles of launching the third phase to support the activation of the contractual requirements of the development road, after the company completed the previous two phases. link
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Tishwash: Iraq's financial crisis "explodes" days before the December 15th demonstration: We have reached a dangerous stage
The depth of the financial crisis
For weeks, government ministries have been facing significant financial pressures as the fiscal year draws to a close, amid rising operational spending requirements and numerous government obligations.
This has impacted the funding of several projects, most notably payments owed to companies and contractors. Official data indicates that the available allocations are insufficient to cover all the required amounts at once, resulting in a considerable delay in disbursing funds.
This crisis is no longer limited to the accounts of ministries or financial schedules, but has begun to affect the service and project sectors, while contractors are awaiting urgent solutions after accumulating debts to banks, suppliers and workers, and the delay has become a direct cause of the failure of hundreds of projects in the governorates.
Contractors Union: We have reached a dangerous stage, and the demonstration will proceed as scheduled.
Ismail al-Rubaie, a member of the Iraqi Contractors Union, told Baghdad Today that “the private sector has reached a critical stage due to the delay in payments, and that the peaceful demonstration scheduled for December 15 will proceed as planned, after the number of participants reached thousands of contractors.”
Al-Rubaie added that “the total cost of the projects implemented by the companies amounts to about 200 trillion dinars, while the contractors’ dues from the government amount to 30 trillion dinars,” explaining that “the Prime Minister directed the disbursement of 5 trillion, but the Ministry of Finance released only 2 trillion, which is an amount that does not address the crisis, and therefore we refused to receive it.”
He pointed out that “a large percentage of contractors are on the verge of bankruptcy, while dozens are being pursued with lawsuits or arrest warrants due to accumulated debts, and others have been forced to mortgage their homes while awaiting a final solution.”
He stressed that “the next step will be to halt projects if the dues are not disbursed, especially water, electricity and services projects, which depend directly on the ongoing contracts.”
The Ministry of Finance refutes the accusations and presents details of the expenditures.
In response, the Ministry of Finance issued a lengthy statement refuting what was said by the head of the Contractors Union during a televised interview, stressing that “the claim regarding sending one of the female MPs to negotiate with Minister Taif Sami about the dues is completely untrue, and that the Ministry did not receive any female MP for this purpose.”
The Ministry of Finance said in a statement received by “Baghdad Today” that “the Ministry officially handed over to the representative of the Union the two Cabinet Resolutions (435 and 721 of 2025), which included the allocation of an amount of (2) trillion dinars, in addition to the allocation schedules amounting to 25% of the entitlements.”
She added that “the financing procedures included the disbursement of (1,371,451,904,190) trillion dinars to the ministries, and (1,000,000,000,000) trillion dinars to the governorates, and that work is underway based on the requests received from the Ministry of Planning,” stressing that “the representative of the Union was present at all the meetings and was aware of their content.”
The ministry stressed that it “reserves its legal right to hold accountable the channels and media professionals who promote misleading information regarding this issue.”
The outstanding payments file is turning into a financial and administrative test.
The interactions of the past few days show that the issue of contractors' dues has become a central part of the pressures facing finance, especially with the multitude of obligations that require immediate funding, in contrast to the clear restrictions on the liquidity currently available.
A reading of the official data issued by the Ministry of Finance indicates that the ministry is operating within the limits of the approved allocations, and cannot disburse the full entitlements before the Ministry of Planning completes its requests, which makes scheduling the only option at the moment.
On the other hand, contractors believe that the delay has led to significant losses for companies, and that continuing at the same pace will lead to the suspension of essential service projects, which increases the pressure on the state ahead of the December 15 demonstration.
Despite the ongoing discussions between the two sides, the size of the gap between what the Contractors Union is demanding and what the Ministry of Finance can currently release makes this issue one of the most prominent challenges facing the government in the coming weeks. link
Mot: . Eating Corn on da Cob!!!
Mot: AND!!! -- another ""Motisum"" frum da Net!!!!
