Flags of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region (File)
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SULAIMANI — A negotiating delegation representing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will travel to Baghdad on Monday (February 22) to continue talks with federal officials in an attempt to finalize an agreement about the draft 2021 Federal Budget Law.
According to media outlets affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani will lead the delegation once again.
On Sunday night, member of the Council of Representatives Musana Amin told NRT’s Tawtwe interview program that Erbil and Baghdad have not reached an agreement yet and that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi does not have the power to send salaries for the Region’s public servants on his own.
A vote on the legislation is expected later this week.
A major sticking point has been over how much oil the KRG will send to Iraq’s oil marketer SOMO. In the past, Erbil has agreed to send oil, but reneged on that commitment, leading to a lack of trust between the two sides.
On February 10, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said that his government is not ready to hand over total control over the Kurdistan Region’s oil production to the federal government, saying such a demand was “unconstitutional.”
He said that the Region is ready to hand over 250,000 barrels of oil per day and half of the its non-oil income or their cash equivalents to the federal government in return for securing the “Region’s financial entitlement.”
(NRT Digital Media)