KRG delegation to visit Baghdad to discuss salaries, budget, and hydrocarbons

Shafaq News/ A high-level delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is scheduled to visit Baghdad on Monday to discuss the salaries of KRG employees, the KRG's share of the federal budget, and the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan region and Kirkuk through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

This was announced by Omid Sabah, head of the KRG's cabinet secretariat, in a press statement on Sunday in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan region.

Sabah said that "per the instructions of Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the delegation has been working to maintain contact with all institutions of the federal government. Our main goal is to obtain the constitutional rights of the people of Kurdistan, especially those who receive salaries."

He added that "it has been decided that the KRG delegation will visit Baghdad on Monday and meet with the Prime Minister. There is no doubt that the issue of salaried employees will be discussed."

Sabah continued, saying, "We will spare no effort to preserve the financial entitlements and constitutional rights of Kurdistan."

When asked about the obstacles to resuming oil exports from the Kurdistan region, the Kurdish official replied that "it is scheduled that we will hold a meeting in Baghdad with the Federal Ministry of Oil in early next month regarding this matter."

"In addition to some demands, the delegation of the [Federal] Oil Ministry that visited Erbil recently requested information on the oil sector in the region. We complied with the demands and sent the requested information in an official correspondence three days ago."

He noted that the ministry is currently studying this information, and "in the third meeting scheduled for next month, we will be informed about the final decision of the federal government on resuming the region's oil exports, and whether it can bear the cost of producing and extracting oil or not."

Sabah said that KRG seeks to resume those oil exports. "However, it is contingent on the federal government's ability to secure the production and extraction costs. Otherwise, there is no chance that exports could be resumed."