Archive | 2015

Iran Khodro Expands After-Sale Services

By John Lee. Iranian vehicle maker Iran Khodro (IKCO) has announced that it has expanded its after-sale services in Iraq. During a visit by Karbala's Governor General, Aqil Al Tarihi, to the company's factory, Managing Director Hashem Yekke-Zare'a said: "In order to increase its market share ... [Iran Khodro] has diversified its export products to […]

Decentralization of Powers Weakens IS

By Mushreq Abbas for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Just like any Middle Eastern leader, Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Ibrahim al-Badri) relies upon his relatives to guarantee his own security. However, ever since his spectacular appearance in the Mosul mosque in […]

Islamic State Fortifies Positions

By Patrick Schmidt. Last month, the Islamic State (IS) posted a tender for Iraqi contractors to bid on. The contractor will be in charge of digging a trench around the city of Mosul, that will measure 2 meters deep by 2 meters wide. The Islamic State is willing to pay the contractor 4,000 dollars per […]

Kerry on Number of IS Militants Killed

By Patrick Schmidt. The Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry announced that airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria had significantly reduced the terrorist group’s numbers. The announcement came after a meeting with other leaders from the 21-member coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS). Since August 2014, over 2,000 […]

GKP Names New CFO

By John Lee. Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has appointed a new Chief Financial Officer. Sami Zouari (pictured), 42, joins the Company following careers in both the oil & gas industry and investment banking, where he also had a particular focus on the Energy and Commodities sectors in the Middle East and North Africa. Educated at […]

Iran-Iraq Trade Hits $12bn

By John Lee. Trade between Iran and Iraq has reached $12 billion, according to the Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, Yahya Al-e Eshaq. Addressing a conference in Tehran, he said an Iranian delegation to be headed by First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri will soon visit Iraq to discuss expansion of trade between the two […]

Ambassador: Tremendous Opportunities in Iraq

By John Lee. The Iraqi Ambassador to Malaysia, Prof. Dr. Basim Hattab Al-Tumma, has said that there are "tremendous opportunities" for Malaysian companies in the field of oil and gas exploration, infrastructure development, commodity trading, halal food and other consumer items. He said Iraq was looking forward to seeing Malaysia, a "brotherly Muslim country", assisting […]

Currency Auction Results, 22nd Jan

By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 15 banks took part in its currency auction on Thursday. A total of $108,544,000 was sold  at a price of 1166 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)

UK Forges Closer Ties with Iraqi Kurdistan

Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne, UK Trade Envoy for Iraq and Iraq Britain Business Council’s (IBBC) Chairman, highlighted on Tuesday the fact that “despite the heavy competition from major industrial countries such as Turkey, China and South Korea there are plenty of contracts and good partnerships being forged by British companies in the Iraq’s Kurdistan […]

Genel Energy Down 3% on Trading Update

Shares in Genel Energy were down 3 percent on Wednesday morning following the company's trading and operations update in advance of the its full-year 2014 results, which are scheduled for release on 5 March 2015. The information contained herein has not been audited and may be subject to further review: HIGHLIGHTS A combination of low […]

Oil Prices have "Reached Bottom": Oil Minister

By John Lee. Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi told a conference in Kuwait on Wednesday that oil prices are unlikely to fall further, following the drop of nearly 60 percent since June: "Our estimate is that the prices (of oil) have reached the bottom. It is very difficult to drop lower than this ... […]