Czechs To Send Pilot Trainers to Iraq
By John Lee. The Czech Republic has said it intends to send up to 35 instructors to Iraq in June to train pilots on the L-159 military jets recently bought from Prague. The mission would begin on 1st June at Iraq’s Balad Air Base and last until 2018, at a cost of 265 million koruna […]
Court finds against Zain in $187m Tax Ruling
By John Lee. Reuters reports that an Iraqi appeals court has upheld a ruling that mobile phone operator Zain Iraq must pay a $187-million tax bill related to the acquisition of a rival Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom in 2007. Unusually, says the report, the government tried to levy capital gains tax worth $187 million on […]
Has US found a New Friend in Iraq's Shiite Militias?
By Ali Mamouri for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. On March 12, US Consul General Steve Walker visited Al-Sadr Teaching Hospital in Basra to pay his respects to wounded members of the Popular Mobilization Units. The visit marked the first time […]
Prime Minister Announces New 'Technocrat' Cabinet
By John Lee. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi nominated a new cabinet on Thursday, pledging to make political reforms to reduce corruption in response to sit-in protests in Baghdad led by Muqtada al-Sadr. Sixteen ministries will be changed, and the parliament will vote in ten days to either approve, reject or amend the proposed cabinet. No […]
Architect Dame Zaha Hadid Dies
Iraqi-born Architect Dame Zaha Hadid has died, aged 65. BBC News reports that she died following a heart attack on Thursday in a Miami hospital, where she was being treated for bronchitis. Among her many awards, she received the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered the Nobel Prize of architecture) in 2004, and was the first woman […]
Unemployed Iraqis join in Looting of Antiquities
By Wassim Bassem for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq is a great mine of antiquities, with around 13,000 historical and archaeological sites. But today, they lack protection in the absence of law and the deteriorating security conditions in the […]
Counter-ISIL Strikes Continue in Syria, Iraq
U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported on Thursday. Officials reported details of yesterday’s strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria Attack and remotely piloted […]
Currency Auction Results, 31st Mar
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 29 banks and 18 remittance companies took part in its currency auction on Thursday. A total of $79,005,544 sold at a price of 1182 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)
New Allegations of Massive Corruption in Iraq Oil Industy
By John Lee. An investigation by Fairfax Media -- publisher of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers -- and The Huffington Post, claims that Monaco-based Unaoil has been involved in widespread bribery and corruption in the oil industry, including in Iraq, Iran and Libya. Following examination of tens of thousands of emails, the report says that Unaoil […]
ALE wins business at Karbala Refinery Project
By John Lee. ALE has been awarded several contracts at the Karbala Refinery Project. The deals include the provision of approximately 50 crawler, rough terrain and mobile cranes, the execution of heavy lifting operations, as well as the heavy transportation of approximately 45 oversized items, weighing up to 250 tonnes each. The project has already […]
Oil Ministry Clarifies Gas Export Policy
The Ministry of Oil has confirmed that the gas recently exported from Iraq was what it described as "condensed liquids (C5) or 'natural gasoline,'" a by-product from the associated gas investment extracts used for the industrial purposes, and “not the dry gas which is used for the power generation”. Hamid Y. Salih, the deputy minister […]
Kurdish Yazidi Activist Wins "Int'l Women of Courage Award"
By John Lee. US Secretary of State John Kerry has awarded an ‘International Women of Courage Award’ to a Kurdish Yazidi activist. At a ceremony on Tuesday, Nagham Nawzat Hasan was one of 14 women from fourteen different countries who were honoured for their outstanding roles in their communities as activists, humanitarians and reformers. Yezidi […]