By John Lee. The trial has begun in London of three British businessmen accused of conspiring to pay bribes totalling $6m (£4.6m) to win contracts in Iraq worth $800 million. According to the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Monaco-based Unaoil bribed Iraqi officials to help Dutch-based SBM Offshore [Single Buoy Moorings], and Singapore's Leighton Offshore, […]
By Amnesty International. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Protest death toll surges as security forces resume brutal repression Chilling eyewitness testimonies and verified video analysis by Amnesty International confirm that security forces have resumed their campaign of deadly violence against largely peaceful […]
KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani chaired a meeting of the cabinet on Wednesday to discuss implementing best practice for the taxation system of the Kurdistan Region. The ministers reviewed an internal pilot project tasked with developing a new legal and auditing framework. The framework updates current auditing practices and […]
By John Lee. The Palestinian Authority has reportedly filed a formal request to Israel to allow the import of fuel from Iraq. Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh, told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that although the request was made four months ago, Israel has yet to respond. He said: “Fuel is our biggest expense ... The cheaper […]
As a part of his meetings with a number of leaders and heads of State, President Salih held in-depth talks with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. The President stressed the need to intensify international efforts to establish international and regional security and stability, […]
By John Lee. Aviation services group Air Partner has said that it has received increased interest in its "emergency planning" services as a result of recent events in Iraq and Iran. In a trading update for the year ending 31 January 2020, the company reported: "Heightened tensions in the Middle East have resulted in increased […]
Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has issued an operational and corporate update in advance of the Company's full year 2019 results which are scheduled to be released on 26 March 2020. Operational Average gross production for 2019 of 32,883 barrels of oil per day ("bopd"), meeting original 2019 gross production guidance. Current production rates from the […]
By John Lee. The head of Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has reportedly said that the bank would stop processing payments for Iranian gas imports if a US sanctions exemption expires next month. Faisal al-Haimus told AFP: "As a bank, the most important thing we have is that we are compliant (with international regulations). That's […]
On Tuesday, the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations Dr. John Manza and his delegation met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Mr. Abdul Karim Hashim Aboualgus and his team. The Deputy Minister and Dr. Manza discussed the current state of the NATO Mission in Iraq and cooperation between […]
By John Lee. BP has reportedly finished its work at Iraq’s giant Kirkuk oilfield. According to Reuters, sources confirmed that the decision followed the expiration of its $100-million exploration contract at the end of December, at which point there was no agreement on the field’s expansion. It quotes a source at BP as saying: “In […]
By John Lee. A recently established tote bag factory has reportedly created jobs for 25 women in the Kurdistan Region's Halabja. According to Rudaw, the initiative aims to promote alternatives to plastic, and is part of the "Green City Halabja" campaign, run by the NWE NGO and partially funded by the German Consulate and WADI […]
Qatar Airways, Emirates and several other Persian Gulf airlines still fly in Iranian and Iraqi airspace and to cities in both countries since Iran and the United States traded military strikes. “Iranian airspace is important for all carriers in this region,” said Adil al-Ghaith, Emirates’ senior vice president, commercial operations, Persian Gulf, Middle East and […]
