By John Lee. Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has met with Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, to discuss a major project in Baghdad. No details of the project were given, but Sawiris, the Chairman of Egypt's Orascom Investment Holding company, had also met earlier this year with the Chairman of Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC) […]
By John Lee. Norwegian company Scatec has reportedly decided not to proceed with its solar projects in Iraq. The firm, whose main shareholder is Equinor (formerly Statoil), told MEES that it has decided to focus on "carefully selected markets", and not to proceed with the projects in Iraq. In October 2021, Iraq's Ministry of Oil […]
By John Lee. The Chairman of Iraq's National Investment Commission (NIC), Dr. Haider Muhammad Makiya, has met with the Chairman of Egypt's Orascom Investment Holding company, Naguib Sawiris. According to a statement from the NIC, they discussed a number of opportunities and sectors the company is willing to invest in, such as taking part in […]
By John Lee. A delegation from the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has visited Iraq to study the possibility of building a water treatment plant on the Euphrates River. According to a report from Egypt Today, the plant would be similar to Egypt's Bahr El-Baqar wastewater treatment plant. The discussions involved Orascom and […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Cabinet has approved the Ministry of Electricity entering into a the contract for the construction of two solar energy projects in Karbala (300 megawatts) and Alexandria/Iskandariya (225 megawatts). The Ministry of Oil had previously announced the project in October, involving a consortium of companies led by the Norwegian Scatec, whose […]
By John Lee. Iraq signed an agreement to build a 525-MW solar power plant in Karbala. The project will be built by a consortium of companies led by the Norwegian Scatec, whose main shareholder is Equinor (formerly Statoil). Also involved are Egypt's Orascom and Iraq's Al-Bilal. The signing comes after recent announcements of renewable energy […]
By John Lee. Germany's Siemens and Egypt's Orascom Construction signed an agreement with Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity to rebuild Baiji 1 and Baiji 2 power plants in northern Iraq. The plants will have a combined generation capacity of 1.6 gigawatts (GW) when completed and are a major step in Siemens’ roadmap for rebuilding Iraq's power […]
Global Telecom Holding (GTH), an Egyptian joint stock company, today announces that, as previously disclosed, on 19 November 2012 Atheer Telecom Iraq Limited initiated English High Court proceedings against Orascom Telecom Iraq Ltd. (OTIL) and GTH in relation to a dispute arising from 2007 sale of Iraqna, OTIL's Iraqi mobile subsidiary, to Atheer. Pursuant to […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that Zain Iraq is to pay $94 million to settle a tax case related to the 2007 acquisition of rival operator Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom. Iraq's General Commission of Taxes (GCT) claimed Zain Iraq owed $187 million in capital gains tax due on its $1.2 billion purchase of the […]
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 […]
By John Lee. An Iraqi court has reportedly rejected a $4.5-billion (5.4 trillion Iraqi dinar) lawsuit against Zain. The case centers around Zain's $1.2-billion acquisition of Iraqna from Egypt's Orascom Telecom in December 2007, after the Egyptian company dropped out of the running for a long-term mobile licence. According to Reuters, the Kuwaiti firm then […]
By John Lee. Kuwait's Zain Group has announced that an Iraqi court has lifted a freeze on future revenue of Zain Iraq. But the company added that previously frozen revenues remain blocked, after a $4.5 billion lawsuit against the Iraqi firm was dismissed this month. In April, we reported that Zain was being sued for […]
