Regrettably the EITI report was censored in Baghdad and the chapter on Kurdistan was removed at the time of its launch. This damaged the reputation of EITI as an independent revenue tracking organization.
Nevertheless, the KRG will remain committed to report transparently on all its oil and gas related activities.
On Monday, I attended the Iraq Power conference, and it was striking to see how speaker after speaker listed the key obstacles to power generation and distribution in Iraq as the lack of the rule of law, unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks and widespread inefficiency.
Sadly, 29 trillion dinars later, Iraq has only solved a few of its electricity problems. The Kurdistan Region, however, has spent less than 1 trillion Iraqi dinars and enjoys near round-the clock power.
So it is not just about throwing money at a problem. It is about creating the right conditions for a long-term partnership between the state as a regulator and the private sector.
Ladies and gentlemen, this week here I have also heard many speakers saying that Iraq is at a crossroads. But it has been at this crossroads for too long and is stagnating, or even worse.
Ten years after liberation from the former regime, some in Baghdad still rely on the use of old laws and old ways of thinking instead of focusing on how best to build for the future.
Nevertheless, we look forward to doubling our efforts with our colleagues in the federal government to resolve all our differences and to create a united and prosperous Iraq based on the implementation of its permanent Constitution and the fundamental obligations contained therein to legislate to share the country’s power and wealth.
Finally, to sum up, we say that post-war Iraq has to be governed according to its new Constitution. As Article 1 reminds us, the Constitution is the guarantor of Iraq’s unity. Its non-implementation therefore is the biggest threat to a peaceful, prosperous and united Iraq.
Thank you.
(Source: KRG)
“Sadly, 29 trillion dinars later, Iraq has only solved a few of its electricity problems. The Kurdistan Region, however, has spent less than 1 trillion Iraqi dinars and enjoys near round-the clock power“
Yes it is a SAD story for many and ALL Kurdish officials to repeatedly (and foolishly) remind us that KRG enjoys round-the clock power compared to the rest of Iraq… Let us examine that argument in more detail… The KRG (comprising of 3 provinces) with a population of 5+ million inhabitants consumes power (without telling us how much power gets imported from Turkey and Iran yearly) of 2.5 GW compared to the rest of Iraq (15 provinces) and a population of 30+ million inhabitants that requires 15 GW (projected to reach 20 GW) a task that takes many years and billions of dollars to be attained and realized since the destruction of the old Iraqi power grid in 1991 in desert storm, desert fox and all sorts of desert crap by BUSH father, son and family!!
Yes we (ALL the Iraqis) are proud of the progress in the federally governed and administered region of Iraqi-Kurdistan and we applaud the Kurdish people and their officials over there and we wish them more success in the near future, but that success must not and cannot be compared with the rest of Iraq and Iraqis
When you hear these Kurdish officials (Like Mr. Hawrami) giving speeches and attend conferences valuing the KRG (aside from Iraq) and instead putting down the rest of Iraq (The argument of I look better than you is utterly childish and naive)
You also get a sense about these people who obviously care less for Iraq or Iraqis. We ask the question “What Have these people done for the rest of Iraq and the Iraqis since 2003” aside from ruling and administering their three provinces from Iraq’s generous 17% income and keeping their 3 provinces safe , secure and prosperous???
These people keep referring us (in their speeches) to the ill-written, ill-fated, doomed and decrepit constitution, written and passed in 2005 (under US occupation) by an inexperienced 27 year old American Jew named “Noah Feldman” who instilled prejudice, division, sectarianism and all sorts of awkward seeds in that constitution for the future of IRAQ’s political scene to be never solved and to have a never ending solution and for more continuous political, economical and societal complications!!!
Yes, we live in a SAD and a pathetic world to the extreme
Here is a tidbit information that “Mr. Hawrami” does not mention in his speech and instead he simplify it by saying “The Kurdistan Region has spent less than 1 trillion Iraqi dinars and enjoys near round-the clock power“, “Mr. Hawrami” also failed to mention that a real and a true Iraqi businessman is behind that success in Kurdistan
“Majid Hamid Jafar” is a United Arab Emirates (UAE) businessman of Iraqi origin. He is the CEO of Crescent Petroleum, the Middle East's oldest private oil and gas company, headquartered in the UAE and with offices in the UK and Internationally. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Crescent Group of Companies, which includes interest in energy, transportation, logistics, private equity and real estate sectors, and is the Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas (PJSC), the first regional, private sector integrated natural gas Company in the Middle East, in which Crescent Petroleum is the largest shareholder.
Together, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas have invested over $1bn in the oil and gas sector in Iraq's Kurdistan region, producing over 340 million cubic feet of gas and 15,000 barrels of condensate per day and enabling almost continuous electricity in the main cities in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Majid Jafar is the eldest son of Hamid Jafar, founder of Crescent Petroleum, and is a grandson of Dhia Jafar, a prominent politician and Cabinet Minister in the last decade of Iraq’s monarchy during the reign of King Faisal II until 1958.
Now that is what we call some real Iraqi Business news that makes all of Iraqis proud