By John Lee. Paolo Scaroni, the CEO of Italian oil and gas company Eni, spoke out on Wednesday to complain about the difficulties of doing business in Iraq. "Our adrenaline rush now is not what it was when we entered Iraq", he said ,"[it's] more complex than we first thought." On one hand, we could […]
The dispute between Iraq's central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government over oil contracts in northern Iraq has been dragging on for years, but it recent times we've seen developments that push the sides further apart rather than bringing them together. While the short-term issue of payments for shipments from Iraqi Kurdistan appears to have […]
Perhaps the biggest story of recent days was the shock dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Sinan al-Shabibi, and the issuing of arrest warrants for him and many of his staff. The nature of the allegations against Mr Shabibi are not entirely clear, but appear to center around manipulation of […]
By John Lee. A high-level Iraqi delegation visiting Russia has made quite a stir this week: Arms deals worth $4.2 billion were announced, making Russia Iraq's second biggest supplier of arms after the US; A memorandum of understanding was signed for political and diplomatic cooperation between the two countries, with Iraq asking Russia’s help to […]
By John Lee. Three sound bites from the past week sum up the investment climate in Iraq: From Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Dr Hussain al-Sharistani: "Investments between now and 2030 in the energy sector and linked industries will amount to about $500 billion, of which 80 billion is expected to come from the private […]
By Eugen Iladi. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The ability of Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, to maintain power in Baghdad is increasingly linked to the support he receives from Iran. Al-Maliki and his inner circle are notoriously tied […]
By John Lee. At Iraq Business News we are committed to bringing you up-to-date information to help your business in Iraq. With that in mind, our revised Tenders Service has listed 26 new opportunities this week alone, covering such products and services as industrial valves, pharmaceuticals, dental supplies, construction equipment, and consultancy services. With the […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. This week in London, Iraq Business News was delighted to be Gold Media Partner at Symexco's Iraq Finance 2012 conference, attended by wide range of public officials and senior executives from the financial sector. The following sound-bites will give you a small taste of the mood of the event: "The opportunities in […]
With the passing of a death sentence on vice-president Tariq al-Hashemi at the weekend, many fear that Iraq is too much under the control of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and that his grip on power is becoming ever stronger. As an editorial in the Guardian put it on Monday, "Maliki's authoritarianism has some way to […]
By John Lee. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has extended its deadline for the federal government to pay the money it says it is due in respect of oil exports to 15th September, after which time it will again halt exports of Kurdish crude. Baghdad, on the other hand, has threatened to trim Erbil's budget […]
By John Lee. In July 762 AD, Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur commissioned the building of a city on the River Tigris. Baghdad rapidly became a centre of learning and an economic and political powerhouse. Today, despite a population of over 7 million, the city's standing is greatly diminished; security continues to be a problem, and […]
By Padraig O'Hannelly. For readers interested in investment opportunities in Iraq, I think it's fair to say that our Expert Bloggers have excelled themselves in recent weeks. Following the analysis of Iraq's banking sector by InvestAD's Sherif Salem earlier this month, Mark DeWeaver of Quantrarian Asia Hedge has been picking through the balance sheets of […]
