Iraq
Salary distribution process for civil servants at a public Erbil bank on August 19, 2020. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to hold talks with the federal officials as both governments have intensified efforts to resolve their financial disputes, according to a lawmaker, who expressed his optimism that a deal could be reached soon.
A technical delegation from the Iraqi government arrived in Erbil last week to pave the way for a visit by a high-profile delegation from Baghdad to the Kurdish capital. The technical team has held continuous meetings with senior officials of the Kurdistan Region. The meetings have been positive and good,” Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish member at the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw on Saturday.
A Kurdish delegation headed by Kamal Mohammed, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) acting natural resources minister, are set to meet with the federal oil minister and Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) to discuss the continuation of the Region’s oil exports.
“With great probability, this week the issue of oil exports and employees’ salaries will be resolved,” Dubardani said.
The Iraqi government has paid the KRG’s share from the federal budget for only the first four months of this year. This has crippled the Kurdish region’s economy as it has more than a million civil servants.
Oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 2023, following a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court that found Ankara had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to export oil independently. Officials in both Erbil and Baghdad say the halt has cost more than $24 billion in lost revenues.
On May 26, a technical team from the Iraqi finance ministry, oil ministry, and the Federal Financial Supervision Bureau (FFSB) arrived in Erbil. According to Dubardani, Saturday’s meeting in Baghdad marked a continuation of those discussions.
Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad escalated in late May when the federal finance ministry suspended all budget transfers to the KRG, citing that the Region had exceeded its 12.67 percent share of the 2025 federal budget. Kurdish parties denounced the decision as politically motivated and unconstitutional.
At a press conference attended by Rudaw, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said salaries of Kurdistan Region employees should not be tied to political disputes with Baghdad. He called the budget freeze “unconstitutional” and said salaries “were cut illegally.”
He also said that a top Iraqi delegation will arrive in Erbil to resolve the disputes. Rudaw has learned that the delegation will visit Erbil on Monday.
The timing of the federal government’s decision coincided with the KRG’s signing of two major energy deals with US companies, worth a combined $110 billion over their lifespans. Baghdad rejected the deals as illegal, arguing that all energy contracts must go through federal authorities.
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