ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Italian Ambassador to Iraq Maurizio Greganti on Tuesday said that it is “very important” for the Kurdistan Region to be allowed to resume its oil exports months after the process was suspended due to an arbitration case between Ankara and Baghdad.
He said that it is “very important” to allow the resumption of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s oil export, “it is a very important source of income for the KRG and for Iraq as well,” the top Italian diplomat told Rudaw’s Payam Sarbast.
“It is the question of political agreement among the parties concerned and I think in this regard the incoming visit of President Erdogan to Baghdad, to Iraq will be very important,” he added.
Oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 23 when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
The lack of oil flow has incurred around $6 billion of losses towards the Kurdish and Iraqi governments since March.
“This is a very important issue which has to be settled,” Greganti noted.
He said there should be a general agreement in this regard.
Earlier in the day, the ambassador met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, discussing bilateral relations between the Kurdistan Region and Italy as well as ongoing issues between Baghdad and Erbil over the Region’s financial entitlements within the budget law.
“Both parties emphasised the importance of resolving these matters, particularly concerning the financial entitlements of the Kurdistan Region and the salaries of its public sector employees, in accordance with the Iraqi constitution and budget law,” read a statement from Barzani’s office.
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