The latest news from Kurdistan – security updates, reconstruction and more – brought to you by Iraq Business News.
By John Lee. BasNews quotes the Head of the Kurdistan Restaurant and Hoteliers Association, Hersh Ahmad, as saying that 74 of the region's 2,500 hotels have closed down in Erbil recently: “The main reason is the fight against the Islamic State (IS) ... And those which still operate have fired 50% of their staff, increasing […]
By John Lee. Turkish energy minister Taner Yildiz said today that agreements with Iraqi administrations open the door for Turkish oil exploration in Iraqi Kurdistan: "We have agreements with Baghdad and [the government in] northern Iraq ... In the frame of these agreements, we will explore for oil there ... "There can be an additional […]
By John Lee. Roza Othman, a member of the Natural Resources Committee in the Kurdistan Parliament, has said that the KRG will sign a contract with Iran to import gas and electricity. The imported electricity and gas will be for civilians, and the gas will be delivered by pipeline. The Head of the Parliamentary Committee […]
The first day of the Erbil Business Conference highlighted the interest of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to attract investment and to operate within the principles of open markets whilst battling the perception that it is a dangerous place to operate. The Conference started with a speech by the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan, Nerchivan […]
By John Lee. The tanker which was blocked for months by a Baghdad legal challenge from unloading its 1 million barrels of Kurdish crude oil in Texas, has reportedly delivered its cargo to Israel. The United Kalavyrta [United Kalavrvta, United Kalvrvta] (pictured) spent several months off the coast of Texas after Baghdad tried to have […]
The World Bank Group and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-Iraq, have launched a social protection program of support to promote equity in living standards and reduce vulnerability. The program is aligned with the government’s efforts to develop a comprehensive social protection system and contributes to the goals of KRGs Vision 2020 of “freedom, health, welfare, […]
In the context of his visit to Britain, Minister Falah Mustafa, the Head of KRG Foreign Relations met with Tobias Ellwood, Middle East Minister at the Foreign Office, and during their meeting both sides discussed the current situation in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and the threats of the terrorist organization of Daesh. The Head […]
By John Lee. BasNews reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi secretly tried to block the Turkish government's deal to lend $500 million [583 billion Iraqi dinars] to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). According to sources, Abadi made the request to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a telephone call. A later request to Turkish […]
By John Lee. Shares in Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP), operator of the Shaikan field (pictured) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, jumped 65 percent on Wednesday after the company announced that it has recently engaged in discussions with a number of parties in relation to possible asset transactions or a sale of the company. GKP […]
By John Lee. Turkey has agreed to provide a $500-million [600 billion Iraqi dinar] loan to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to help pay the wages of state officials. According to a report from Daily Sabah, the loan will be repaid by either being set off from Turkey's crude oil debts or being repaid directly […]
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani told the press that Kurdistan Regional Government is committed to the agreement reached between Erbil and Baghdad last December on oil export and Kurdistan Region's share in the 2015 federal budget. In a meeting held yesterday with representatives of media outlets in Kurdistan Region, Prime Minister Barzani highlighted the […]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday received in Ankara Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his delegation. The two sides discussed the latest developments in the region, the war against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, ISIS and the role of Kurdistan Peshmerga Forces. They also discussed the agreement reached last December between […]
