Cabinet reviews measures to improve electricity provision and other public services

The Cabinet held its regular meeting in Baghdad on Sunday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister, Mr. Adil Abd Al-Mahdi.

The Cabinet reviewed measures to improve electricity supply across Iraq and to increase the grid capacity to deliver a more reliable service to homes and businesses.

The Cabinet also reviewed progress to improve the delivery of other key public services.
The Cabinet voted to grant the Governor of Kirkuk the authority to approve the province’s investment plan for 2019.

The Cabinet approved a draft law on the accession of the Republic of Iraq to the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, known as the ‘CLC Convention’.

The Cabinet also discussed a range of other policies and draft laws.

Gds.gov.iq

The first comment of the victory coalition on the departure of the Abbadi from the call

The victory coalition, Sunday, issued a position on the departure of its leader Haider Abadi from the Islamic Dawa Party.

The leader of the coalition MP Faleh Ziadi told Ashqaf News that “Abadi out of the hat of the Dawa Party, is completely free, and this will give him more room to express his views and views of the victory coalition.”

Al-Ziadi said that “Abadi’s exit from the Dawa Party is calculated for him, and will keep him away from the problems suffered by the party, and this exit will strengthen and increase the popularity of Abadi and the coalition of victory, and his chances will be greater in the upcoming elections.”

“Haydar al-Abadi, when he was prime minister, was working outside the Dawa Party,” he said.

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, head of the victory coalition in parliament, announced his resignation from all his party posts, calling for a review and renewal of the structure of the “Dawa” party led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Abbadi heads the alliance of victory, which has 42 seats in the Iraqi parliament out of 329 seats.

In a letter addressed to the Dawa Party, Abadi said that “on the eve of the next conference, I find myself obliged to address you to the fulfillment of my legitimate and patriotic responsibilities. The invitation is a heritage, thought, action, sacrifice and great goals, and we need self-denial, solidarity and innovation to continue to lead the major transformations in our country.”

“There are no societal political experiments infallible, the most important review and correction, and most importantly insist on continuing awareness, planning and commitment in accordance with the rules of responsibility and readiness.”

“I call for a critical review, renewal of speech and structure, and I call for the continuation of a harmonious collective will, and to inject new blood in all the parts of the call, especially the leadership, and therefore I declare descending and withdrawing from all the leadership positions of the party, “He said.

The “Dawa” party in 2006 headed the Iraqi government and continued until 2018, after which Adel Abdel Mahdi was appointed to form the government after the party’s decline in the results of parliamentary elections held last May.

Over the past years, the relationship between Abadi and Nuri al-Maliki has been strained. Abadi blamed his party’s leader for the control of a two-thirds party when Maliki was prime minister in 2014.

Shafaaq.com

Cabinet decides to amend the implementation of the budget law

Economy News – Baghdad – The Cabinet decided on Sunday to amend the implementation of the federal budget law for 2019 and approved the authorization of the governor of Kirkuk to approve the investment projects plan for the current year.

“The Cabinet held its regular session Sunday under the chairmanship of Adel Abdul Mahdi, and discussed a number of developments and the development of the electrical system and issues prepared for the agenda, and issued several resolutions, including the approval of the Council to authorize the governor of Kirkuk The validity of the approval of the Kirkuk investment projects plan for the year 2019 .

“The Council approved the draft system for determining the basis and amount of compensation and reward for those covered by the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Witnesses, Experts, Detainees and Rescuers No. 58 of 2017. The Council also decided to approve the solution of strategic problems based on the national staff of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, In the rest of the ministries . ”

“The Council approved the draft law on the accession of the Republic of Iraq to the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage for 1992. The Council approved the Third Amendment Bill for the Implementation of Irrigation Projects No. 138 of 1971, The Federal Budget for the fiscal year / 2019 on the competence of the competent minister and the head of the non-associated with the Ministry in the provision of goods and services, and the Council decided to change the name of the gas filling company to become a filling company and gas services.

Economy-news.net

Why Iraq’s Shia jihadists fear a US-Iran showdown

Iran absolutely loves to make a song and a dance about how it stands up to the American “Great Satan.”

Tehran will not miss an opportunity to remind the world that it stands opposed to the United States and that it is ready and willing to use violence to achieve its aims and to harm US interests in the Middle East and beyond.

Its proxies who fight with money, training and arms from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spare no expense in dedicating airtime to how they would seek “martyrdom” in any fight against the United States. It is with some surprise to Iraq observers, then, that these zealots are oddly timid about the prospect of a war between Iran and the United States.

Of course, despite the tough talk and Dutch courage the Iranians and their proxies developed over a long time of being intoxicated on their own egos, those with a careful eye for events know that, without the United States, Tehran’s proxies in Iraq would not be in power today.

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had them on the run even when Iraq was at its weakest under intense US-led international sanctions that make the present sanctions against Iran look like child’s play. Without US support for Shia dissidents and Iranian cooperation with the US-led Iraq war of 2003, it is highly unlikely the mullahs would be extending the tendrils of their influence and Shia extremism across the Middle East today.

Iraqi Shia jihadist leaders such as Qais Khazali, who heads the Asaib Ahl al-Haq terror group, was full of grandiose threats of violence to Mosul’s Sunni Arab population when they were being held hostage by the Islamic State.

Khazali and other Iranian proxies carried out those threats in an orgy of sectarian violence, torture, murder and rape against a hostage civilian population. Yet, at the mere suggestion of US military power being used against Iran, Khazali suddenly sobers up and turns into a peace advocate, calling publicly for both his masters and the White House to de-escalate because it would be in neither side’s interests to go to war.

Similarly, notorious Badr Organisation leader and former cabinet minister Hadi al-Amiri released a statement following a suspected IRGC-backed rocket attack near the US Embassy in Baghdad calling on Iraqis “not to be the fire that fuels this war” that would “burn everyone.”

Why the cold feet now, Amiri? Was it not you who were exposed all over YouTube in footage showing how you fought on the side of Iran against your own country during the Iran-Iraq War?

Why was it exciting to scream “Death to America!” as you slaughtered and tortured Iraqis back then but suddenly, when there is a prospect of actual Americans on the battlefield, you hang your tail between your legs?

I would imagine that Khazali, Amiri and others of their radical ilk would all give sensible sounding reasons of Iraq’s “sovereignty” and not wanting Iraq to be the site of a proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran.

However, the real reason why Iraqi Shia jihadists are absolutely terrified of an outbreak of conventional war between Iran and the United States is because they know it would be the end of their experiment of ruling Iraq by gangsterism, robbing, raping, killing and torturing as they please. Iran would summon the banners and call on old debts to these groups to be repaid.

If Amiri is any example to go by during the Iran-Iraq War, Iraqi Shia jihadists would attack US interests, forcing a kinetic response from the White House. It would radically change US policy in Iraq, forcing Washington to drop its support for the current political process and perhaps empowering those who have been marginalized and on the periphery since 2003.

These would be the same people who are the sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters of countless victims of Iran’s brand of Shia jihadism. If those people ever got power, and considering Iraqi law, Amiri and Khazali can expect to follow closely in Saddam’s footsteps as they take the walk to the gallows themselves. That is a fate they will want to avoid at all cost.

Thearabweekly.com

Sale of the Iraqi Central Bank declined by 27.91 million dollars

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The value of foreign currency sales in the auction fell to $ 124.54 million, compared with last Thursday’s $ 152.45 million sale, a decline of $ 27.91 million, the Central Bank of Iraq showed.

The exchange rate was 1190 dinars per dollar, according to data from the Central Bank, in the auction held with the participation of 30 banks, as well as a financial transfer company.

The Central Bank said that the sales executed are results on Monday, indicating that the total sales totaled 158.49 million dollars.

The volume of funds sold to boost bank balances abroad amounted to 123.09 million dollars, while total cash sold amounted to 1.44 million dollars.

During the auction last Thursday, data showed the Central Bank of Iraq the value of sales of foreign currency to 152.45 million dollars, compared to auction sales Wednesday, amounting to 145.06 million dollars. Ended 29/6 n

Mawazin.net

Newspaper: 30 days before the Iraqi government to resolve senior positions

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Most ministries and independent agencies are still lagging behind in the case of nominating candidates for senior posts, with the exception of the Ministry of Higher Education, which has begun to change a number of directors and university presidents, the newspaper Al Arabi Al-Jadid reported on Saturday.

“There has been intense movement among the main political forces for days to agree on the outline of the criteria for selecting qualified persons to hold senior positions in the Iraqi state,” the paper quoted a senior Iraqi official as saying. “There are deep differences on this issue.”

The Iraqi government has only thirty days left to resolve hundreds of senior posts and special grades administered by proxy, according to the government program, and the Federal Budget Law, which contained clauses that prohibit the payment of salaries to any Iraqi official who runs his proxy post after June 30.

It is noteworthy that the special grades in Iraq include the agents of ministers, heads of independent bodies, and officials of the offices of endowments, directors-general, and university presidents, and any other position requires the approval of the Prime Minister after the proposed names of ministers and officials concerned.
Mawazin.net

Expert: US Still Widening Military Buildup in Iraq

TEHRAN (FNA) – A prominent Iraqi political expert revealed that Washington continues to increase the number of its troops in Iraq, warning of the US plots to make aggression against the neighboring states.

Sabah al-Akili told the Arabic-language al-Ma’aloumeh news website on Tuesday that the number of US forces has increased in Iraq despite the general demand by the Iraqi people for their withdrawal.

He added that the US forces’ attacks on Iraqi security forces indicate that they are combat forces and are not deployed for advising or training purposes.

Al-Akili underlined that expansion of Ein al-Assad airbase, extension of its runway and deployment of Patriot missile systems at the base show that Washington intends to stay in Iraq for the long-run, specially given the reports that the US plans to use Iraq as a platform to attack the neighboring states and is, thus, sending more forces to its bases in Iraq.

Iraqi sources said last Saturday that the US army had dispatched new military convoys and equipment from Jordan to Ein al-Assad base in al-Anbar province in Western Iraq.

A military convoy comprising military vehicles and state-of-the-art military hardware has arrived in US-controlled Ein al-Assad Air Base in the city of Heet in al-Anbar province in Western Iraq from Jordan, al-Ma’aloumeh quoted a security source in al-Anbar province as saying.

The source noted that the US military convoys arrived under tight aerial support, and said the dispatch of the US military convoys from Jordan to Iraq has increased to unprecedented levels.

It also said that the US forces reinforced unprecedented security measures in all their positions in al-Anbar province concurrent with dispatching military equipment to their military base.

Relevant reports said in early April, over 10,000 US forces were stationed in two occupied bases in al-Anbar province in Western Iraq.

Al-Ma’aloumeh news website quoted the head of Badr Organization’s office in al-Anbar province as saying that the number of US forces deployed in Ein al-Assad and al-Habaniyeh bases has increased to 10,000, adding that they have been supplied with the state-of-the-art weapons and military equipment.

The official said that the two bases also host the US marines who have been transferred recently from Syria to the region, noting that 90 percent of the US soldiers in Iraq are combat forces and are not considered as military advisors.

Farsnews.com

Abadi announced his resignation from his posts in the Dawa Party and urged to change the leadership

The former Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, the head of the victory coalition in parliament, announced his resignation from all his party posts, calling for a review and renewal of the structure of the “Dawa” party led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Abbadi heads the alliance of victory, which has 42 seats in the Iraqi parliament out of 329 seats.

In a letter addressed to the Dawa Party, Abadi said that “on the eve of the next conference, I find myself obliged to address you to the fulfillment of my legitimate and patriotic responsibilities. The invitation is a heritage, thought, action, sacrifice and great goals, and we need self-denial, solidarity and innovation to continue to lead the major transformations in our country.”

“There are no societal political experiments infallible, the most important review and correction, and most importantly insist on continuing awareness, planning and commitment in accordance with the rules of responsibility and readiness.”

“I call for a critical review, renewal of speech and structure, and I call for the continuation of the collective will and the pumping of new blood in all the joints (advocacy), especially the leadership of them, and on the basis of that, I declare descending and withdraw from all positions of leadership Party and to keep a soldier to serve March “.

In 2006, the Dawa party took over the presidency of the Iraqi government and continued until 2018, after which Adel Abdel Mahdi was appointed to form the government following the party’s decline in the results of the parliamentary elections held in May.

Over the past years, the relationship between Abadi and Nuri al-Maliki has been strained. Abadi blamed his party’s leader for the control of a two-thirds party when Maliki was prime minister in 2014.

Shafaaq.com

Shaping Iraq’s Role in the Global Energy Scene

There can be no doubting Iraq’s oil credentials. It is Opec’s number two oil producer, second only to Saudi Arabia, and holds the world’s fifth-largest proved oil reserves. Production is on the rise, having nearly doubled over the past decade, averaging around 4.5 million barrels per day in 2018.

Almost 90 per cent of the country’s output comes from giant oilfields in the southern part of the country. The remainder is largely pumped from oilfields in the northeast, in the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), which is under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

This is good news for a country that is heavily dependent on revenues from its oil exports, which, according to the IMF, accounted for almost 90 per cent of total government revenues in 2017. The rise in oil prices, despite recent wobbles in the face of US-China trade tensions, has certainly been a boost to the country’s coffers and provides further impetus for investment in development and infrastructure.

This upwards trajectory is likely to continue as the country seeks to fill the supply gap left by new US sanctions on Iran. Iraq is keen to lift production capacity to 5 million bpd this year, and to 8.5 million bpd in the coming years as it upgrades its infrastructure. The southern oilfields are key to this growth, expected to pump some 6.5 million bpd in the coming years, with the country keen to partner with international oil companies (IOCs) to secure the necessary investment to unlock its vast resource potential.

Iraq’s growing importance as a key player on the world’s energy stage will be discussed at the upcoming CWC two-day event, Iraq Petroleum, which will be held in London on June 27-28 in collaboration with the new Federal Government of Iraq. For the first time, the event is being co-located with the one-day Kirkuk & Mosul Mega-Projects event on June 29, where delegates will be first to hear government plans and investment opportunities to develop the giant oilfields in the newly liberated oil-rich areas of Kirkuk and Mosul.

The three-day event brings together key figures shaping the future of this strategically important country. The Iraqi ministerial delegation will be led by H.E. Thamir Gadbhan, Deputy Prime Minister for Energy & Minister of Oil along with the heads of the Basra Oil Company and North Oil Company, while the international oil industry is well represented, with confirmed speakers including Michael Townshend, Regional President of BP Middle East, Jeffrey T. Levy, President of Chevron Chevron Europe, Eurasia and Middle East E&P, Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum, and Gati Saadi Al-Jebouri, Managing Director of LUKOIL Mid-East Limited.

It’s not just oil that’s creating new investment opportunities for international partners. Oslo-based energy consultancy Rystad Energy forecasts that in terms of resoruces sanctioned for development, gas will overtake oil projects in 2019, with new projects, mainly in the Kurdistan Region, set to triple the country’s gas output from just over 1 billion cubic feet per day in 2017 to 3 billion cf/d in 2022, enabling it to meet growing domestic demand for gas and possibly even launch the country as a gas exporter for the first time. Again, it’s a topic that will be widely covered at CWC’s Iraq Petroleum event, including presentations from Dr Jaafar Oklany, commercial director of Basra Gas Company and Ali H. Khudhier Al-Saady, former director general of South Gas Company, Basra.

For anyone with an interest in Iraq’s future, and indeed the stability of the world energy mix, this is one event not to be missed.

For further information, visit https://www.cwciraqpetroleum.com/

For full programme, download the brochure

(Source: CWC)

Iraq-businessnews.com

Central Bank: The deletion of zeros aims to tighten banknotes and needs parliamentary legislation

Ihsan al-Yasiri, director general of the Central Bank, said on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, that “the bank is a very transparent institutions both in the window of selling the currency or the subject of contracts,” noting that “the Central Bank is in constant contact with the relevant parliamentary committees and the Central Bank is the only institution that Work every day. ”

“The central bank’s duty is to maintain the exchange rate and stability to meet the demand that comes on foreign currency against the dinar,” he said in an interview with the Noa Dialogue program. “The central bank is responsible for the simple sale of the dollar.”
“The Iraqi economy is an import economy and this is not the responsibility of the central bank. It is the duty of the state and the government to fix this structural imbalance and the domestic economy becomes a product for leaving imports,” he said.

He pointed out that “there is a defect in the duty of some institutions, but simple people believe that this process should be carried out by the Central Bank, and this is not true,” explaining that “the central bank contact with banks and the government by keeping accounts.”

“The major sin that was committed in 2004 was the abolition of import controls and quality control rules at the border crossings, which made the market full of cheap and cheap imported goods,” he said.

In the case of the accident of seven billion in the Rafidain Bank, said Yasiri, “The year 2013 saw heavy rain and leaked water to the bank on the street Rashid, which led to damage that money, which was originally intended to damage, and the duty of the Central Bank to replace those papers, The amount of money less than 200 million dinars. ”

On the subject of the deletion of zeros, he said that “this administrative process aimed at tightening the banknotes and improve the accounting record in the country was launched in 2012, but there are some objections at the time and need legislation by the House of Representatives.”

“The Central Bank has suspicions, the first is to prevent one of the internationally recognized companies from conducting an audit and conduct internal control of the bank in exchange for the placement of Iraqi offices, as these companies are global and stamped recognized worldwide and indicates the lack of money laundering “He said.
“The second thing is that controls the joints of the central bank, usually they are accountants and they basically have offices.”

She said that “the independence of the Central Bank and not to the executive power made the government of Nuri al-Maliki dismiss Sinan Shabibi because of his refusal to enter the prime minister to manipulate the reserves of the Central Bank as it represents the stability of the currency and represents the monetary policy in the country and parliament only those who can account and today Parliament is unable to do so.

She stressed that “the status of the head of the Financial Control Bureau governor of the Central Bank is a violation of the constitutional authorities as the regulatory body has become the executive branch.”

“The Finance Committee formed three subcommittees to follow up the work of the Central Bank of the first follow-up the issue of building the Central Bank and the second follow the auction of currency and the third follow the issue of the subsidiary currency and therefore if there is evidence will be submitted to the Integrity Commission or the judiciary.”

He added that “the issue of scrutiny within the Central Bank can be resolved through the House of Representatives and not raise the issue is due to audits by local companies and anyone who has an interest in this issue must submit to the Finance Committee.”

Radionawa.com