Weekly Security Update
By Gary Sandiford, Olive Group’s Dubai based assessments manager. Olive Group is a leading provider of security and technology solutions and has operated continuously in Iraq since 2003. Overview Olive Group's Iraq statistics are drawn from multiple sources, including media reporting and direct liaison with in country assets. Included within the statistics are a […]
Korea's Posco Wins $700m KRG Power Contract
By John Lee. The KRG has signed contracts worth $700 million (840 billion Iraqi dinars) with South Korea’s Posco Engineering & Construction Company and the Korea National Oil Company (KNOC) to build a power station and tranformer. Posco will build the plants and KNOC will finance the projects in line with terms of its 2008 […]
European Companies to Build Iraqi Operating Theaters
By John Lee. Iraq has signed contracts worth a total of $152 million with four European companies to build medical facilities throughout the country. Sorima Hospital Development of Italy, Ermedi International of France, Viessmann Technologies GmbH of Germany, and HT Labor & Hospital Technik AG, also of Germany, will each build 19 operating theaters. Qais […]
When Will Kirkuk-Ceyhan Pipeline Re-Open?
By John Lee. Estimates vary as to when oil will flow again through the pipeline that runs from Kirkuk to the Turkish port of Ceyhan (pictured), following the attack that halted exports on Sunday. Dow Jones quotes a shipping agent as saying on Wednesday that pumping is not expected to resume until he weekend. Reuters, […]
Un-Licensed Insurers “Liable to Severe Financial Penalties”
By Padraig O'Hannelly. With increasing commercial activity in Iraq, much of it by foreign-based investors, there's a growing market for adequate insurance to cover the risks. But in a country emerging from years of chaos, how can you be sure that the insurance you buy is legal and valid? To help clarify this point, Iraq […]
Iraqi Unemployment "to be Eliminated" by 2016
By John Lee. The Undersecretary of the Iraqi Ministry of Labour, Dara Yara, has said that unemployment in Iraq will be eliminated by 2016 under a new “strategic plan”. According to the Labor Ministry’s figures, about 16% of Iraq’s workforce is unemployed, but other estimates put the figure much higher. “We are working on eliminating […]
JICA Refutes Reports of $2bn Iraqi Loan
By John Lee. Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has told Utilities Middle East that reports that the organisation had agreed a US $2 billion loan for the construction of a new Iraqi power plant are inaccurate. Japan’s principal overseas development agency, was reported by both KUNA and AIN to have agreed the massive loan to […]
Heritage Oil Jumps 21% on Resumption of Share Trading
By John Lee. Shares in Heritage Oil closed the day up 21% at 148.80p on Tuesday, following the resumption of trading on the London Stock Exchange. Trading in the shares had been temporarily suspended on 2nd July pending publication of a prospectus relating to the company's proposed acquisition in Nigeria, which was issued yesterday. On […]
WesternZagros Shares Hit 2.5-Year High
By John Lee. Shares in WesternZagros Resources hit a two-and-a-half-year high of Cdn$1.38 on Tuesday after the company announced that it has signed a strategic investment agreement with Crest Energy International LLC, under which Crest will purchase, through a non-brokered, private placement, 40,714,286 Common Shares of the Company at Cdn$1.40 per share for gross proceeds […]
IMF Approves 7-Mth Extension of Stand-By Arrangement
By John Lee. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a seven-month extension of Iraq’s Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), to February 23, 2013. The SBA had been scheduled to expire on July 23, 2012. The extension, which had been requested by the Iraqi authorities, will provide them with time to implement the […]
Iraqi Firm to Build 500 Residential Units in Karbala
By John Lee. An Iraqi firm is to carry out the first big residential project in eastern Karbala, at a cost of $63 million (76 billion Iraqi dinars). Abbas Nasser Hassani head of the reconstruction and strategic planning committee of the Karbala council, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency: "An Iraqi firm was awarded the license […]
UN Concerned over Delay in New Electoral Board
By John Lee. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler (pictured), has expressed his concern over the delay in selecting the new Board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC). "Any further postponement in appointing the new Commissioners would pose a serious threat to the democratic process in […]