Scrutiny mounts on Baghdad-KRG energy and revenue pacts
Spurred by perceived breaches of the 2019 budget law, MPs are targetting a swath of compromises and commercial deals aimed at bridging political gaps and increasing fuel and power supply to northern Iraq.
BAGHDAD - A faction in Iraq's Parliament on Monday attempted to amend the 2019 budget to cut all budgetary transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) unless it transfers oil to the federal government for export, and has called in the oil and finance ministers for a session on those issues later this week, adding pressure on the already-fragile government of Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi less than a year into his term.
Iraq’s Parliament is also investigating crude refining and power supply deals between the federal ministries of oil and electricity and private Kurdish firms KAR Group and Qaiwan Group, which for more than two years has enabled deliveries of fuel and electricity to federally-controlled areas liberated from the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) group.
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