KRG has not responded to Baghdad's decision to takeover KRG's energy sector

KRG has not responded to Baghdad's decision to takeover KRG's energy sector

kurdsatnews

May 14, 2022

KRG Council of minister's chief of staff said that it would respond to Baghdad's decision regarding its energy policy.

On May 8, Umed Sabah, chief of staff of the Kurdistan regional government's council of ministers, on the official website of the KRG media and information department, said, 'after a visit by the KRG delegation to Baghdad, the Iraqi government had presented the KRG with a proposal and they had begun studying it, and they would reply Baghdad by the end of the week [May 12]'.

Since Sabah's statement, six days have passed, and the KRG has not replied to the proposal.

On March 31, Baghdad asked the KRG to transfer its energy activities to a new company ahead of Baghdad's takeover of the region's oil and gas. The Kurdistan Region has been following an independent energy policy since 2005, and it has not shared its revenue with the central government.

Baghdad asks the KRG to reveal its energy contracts and revenues to send the region's share of the budget, which Baghdad had only sent partially or withheld since 2014 when a dispute between the Iraqi prime minister Nouri Malki and the Kurdistan region president, Masoud Barzani led to a conflict that culminated in the Iraqi army and militia to push Kurdish forces back from Kirkuk and disputed territories.

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