50 Water/Sewage Projects Planned
By John Lee. Iraq's Minister for Municipalities and Public Works has told Reuters that the country is to spend $1.5 billion annually for two to three years on 50 water and sewerage projects, which will be open to work by foreign contractors. "We will ask companies to bid for them in 2014 ... By the end […]
Minister Declares "Housing Crisis"
By John Lee. Iraq's Minister of Construction and Housing has admitted that the country is likely to complete only 5 percent of the 2.5 million homes it needs to build by 2016 to satisfy demand. Mohamed Sahib al-Daraji [Mohammed Al-Deraji] (pictured) told Reuters that only 130,000 of those homes would actually be built: 30,000 by […]
Iraq Bans White Cement from Iran
By John Lee. Global Cement reports that Iraq has banned imports of Iranian white cement from the Iranian border towns of Shalamcheh and Chazabeh. Sadeq Sava'edi, the deputy head of Khuzestan's Cement Exporters Union, told the ISNA news agency that Iraq is still importing grey cement and other construction materials, adding that Iran exports 8000 […]
BP, CNPC get $4.5bn Rumaila Payment
By John Lee. BP and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have received a total of $4.5 billion until the end of 2012 for their investments in the Rumaila oil field, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. A senior Iraqi oil official told the newspaper that Baghdad has paid a total of $8.5 […]
Bulgaria Names Official Air Carrier to Iraq
Bulgarian government has officially chosen Balkan Holidays Airlines (BH Air) as the official airline between Bulgaria and Iraq. The cabinet authorized the airline to fly routes agreed under the Agreement on Air Transport between the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Government of the Republic of Iraq, signed on 15 November 1966 in Sofia. […]
Foreign Minister Receives Irish Ambassador's Credentials
Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has received the credentials of the newly-appointed non-resident Ambassador of Ireland to Iraq, Dr Niall Holohan. During the meeting, the two sides discussed relations between the two countries, and the Minister urged the Irish Ambassador to open an Embassy in Iraq. Based in Riyadh, Dr Holohan also serves as Irish […]
Spain Aims to Strengthen Relations with Kurdistan
The Deputy Head of Mission of the Spanish Embassy in Iraq, Mr. Ramon Molina Llado, met Minister Falah Mustafa yesterday to seek ways of further developing the existing relationship between Spain and the Kurdistan Region. During their meeting, Mr Llado underlined the importance that his government places on its ties with Kurdistan and expressed hope […]
Weekly Security Update 12 - 19 September 2013
By Tom Walker, Director, Assaye Risk COUNTRY OVERVIEW Violence has intensified in Iraq this week as the ISI stepped up both their domestic and international campaign with a wave of bombings. The impact of the Syrian conflict continues to be felt both in Iraq and Syria. In line with their domestic campaign in Iraq the […]
Genel Energy, DNO Deal for Summail Gas
By John Lee. Genel Energy and DNO International have signed a Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to supply gas from the Summail field in the Dohuk licence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The gas will partially displace diesel currently used to generate electricity in a 500 MW power plant […]
GKP Falls on Spending Concerns
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) have fallen 6 percent on Thursday amid concerns about the scale of spending needed to develop the company's oilfields. Following the publication of its half-yearly report (shown in full below), Bloomberg quotes Charlie Sharp, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Securities, as saying: "This marks the end […]
Iraq to Raise Bank Capital to Address Housing Crisis
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq plans to increase the combined capital of the only two governmental banks in the country, from about $23 million currently to about $360 million next year. Deputies in parliament say that […]
Italian Companies Join Erbil International Fair
The Head of the Italian Consular Office in Erbil, Mr Carmelo Ficarra, met with Head of KRG Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa, today to speak about the growing interest and engagement from Italian companies. Italian companies are currently involved in several key projects in Kurdistan, including in the revitalisation plan of the Citadel […]