The Kurdistan Regional Government announces its commitment to the agreement signed with Baghdad and calls on the latter to comply.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) affirmed on Wednesday its commitment to the terms of the agreement signed with the federal government, called on the latter to adhere to it, and confirmed that it had submitted salary lists with complete transparency.
The regional government said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, “The Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers held its meeting today, and the first part of the meeting was devoted to discussing the latest developments in the implementation of the recent agreement between the regional and federal governments, which was approved last week by the Council of Ministers of both sides, and related to salaries, financial dues for the region, oil exports, and the mechanisms for implementing the terms of the agreement by the ministries and relevant authorities in the two governments and the joint committees between them.”
She added, ” The Council of Ministers reiterated that the Kurdistan Region has fully complied with all its obligations stipulated in the agreement, as the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the region has deposited 120 billion dinars into the account of the federal Ministry of Finance, as agreed upon, in addition to sending the payrolls for the months of May and June, and continuing the joint audit work by the Ministries of Finance, in addition to follow-up by the Federal and Regional Boards of Financial Supervision regarding quarterly revenues and expenditures, as all data was presented with complete transparency.”
“ Regarding the oil file, the Ministry of Natural Resources in the region, through a joint committee, has provided all necessary facilities to the federal Ministry of Oil and SOMO to obtain data and conduct direct field visits to all oil fields in the region,” she continued, stressing that “the technical committee in the two ministries has reached a joint agreement on the mechanism for starting the export of the region’s oil through SOMO, based on the current production quantities, which have decreased due to the recent terrorist attacks with drones on the oil fields.”
She pointed out that “the Council of Ministers affirmed that these measures demonstrate the region’s full commitment to the agreement, and that the federal government must, in return, abide by what was agreed upon, particularly the dispatch of salaries and benefits to citizens in the region, which have not yet been dispatched. The region’s employees have been deprived of their salaries for three months, a constitutional and legal right that may not be violated under any circumstances, especially since the region has fully fulfilled its obligations.”
The Council expressed its “high appreciation for the region’s citizens’ responsible and understanding stance regarding the difficult financial circumstances, despite their suffering as a result of unconstitutional decisions. The Council affirmed its full commitment to protecting their rights and not relinquishing them, most notably securing salaries as soon as possible.”
The Council called on the media in Kurdistan to “perform their role professionally and responsibly in conveying information, not to become tools for spreading false news or distorting facts, and not to give space to those seeking to incite chaos and deprive employees of their rights.”
In the second part of the meeting, the Council of Ministers hosted a joint committee comprising representatives from: the Ministry of Planning/Standardization and Quality Control Authority, the Ministry of Finance and Economy/General Directorate of Customs, the Ministry of Trade and Industry/General Directorate of Industrial Development, and the Ministry of Interior. The committee reviewed the text of the agreement between the regional government and the federal government on establishing a mechanism for joint coordination and cooperation between the standardization and quality control authorities on both sides within the constitutional powers of each party. The agreement stipulates the approval of inspection certificates from both parties, unification of procedures between them, and that the standardization authority in the region be an equal party to its counterpart in the federal government.
She added, ” At the conclusion of the discussion, the Council expressed its gratitude to the members of the joint committee and the relevant ministries for their efforts, voted unanimously to approve the agreement, and instructed the relevant ministries to take the necessary measures to implement it within the framework of their constitutional powers and the laws in force in the Kurdistan Region.”
She noted that “this decision will contribute to facilitating inspection and quality control processes and eliminate obstacles that have hindered trade and commodity exchange between the region and the center, causing losses and repeated complaints from traders, investors, and factories on both sides.”
Shafaq.com