KTFA
FRANK26: "NOW SUDANI MUST FUFILL HIS OBLIGATION"........F26
Erbil calls on Baghdad to end the "policy of depriving" the region's citizens of salaries: We have fulfilled our obligations.
7/2/2025
The Kurdistan Regional Government's Council of Ministers affirmed on Wednesday the implementation of all obligations imposed by the federal government regarding the region's oil exports through SOMO, and the transfer of sales proceeds to the federal Ministry of Finance. The Council called on Baghdad to end the "policy of depriving" Kurdistan citizens of their salaries.
The media office of the Kurdistan Regional Government said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, "The Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers held a meeting today, chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The meeting mainly focused on discussing the results of the recent meetings between delegations from the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government, which took place in Erbil and Baghdad in the presence of representatives of oil companies. The meetings focused on starting the export of the region's oil through SOMO, and following up on the disbursement of salaries to the region's employees for the months of May and June."
The Council of Ministers affirmed, according to the statement, that "the Kurdistan Region has fulfilled all of the obligations imposed on it and more, and has shown all the necessary flexibility to begin exporting the region's oil through SOMO and transferring the proceeds from its sale to the federal Ministry of Finance."
He continued, "The region and its oil companies have also demonstrated their full willingness to cooperate with the federal government to remove all pretexts and justifications used by Baghdad to withhold salaries from Kurdistan citizens."
The meeting emphasized that "all parties are now awaiting the federal government's decision to ratify this joint understanding reached in recent days in the presence of oil company representatives. Under this understanding, the federal Ministry of Finance will no longer have any justification for not disbursing financial dues to the region."
He pointed out that "all issues related to payrolls, job numbers, monthly joint audit mechanisms, coordination between the Federal and Regional Financial Supervision Bureaus, the mechanism for paying salaries through banks, and the Region's share of the federal treasury have been fully implemented, and the Regional Government continues to adhere to them."
The Council continued, "Baghdad must end its policy of depriving Kurdistan citizens of their salaries, as salaries are a constitutional, legal, and humanitarian right for the region's employees, and this right cannot be violated under any pretext or justification."
He added, "In the second part of the meeting, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Kwestan Mohammed, presented a report on unemployment and social insurance for workers in the Kurdistan Region."
The report includes "a number of statistics, information, recommendations, and proposals aimed at protecting the rights of workers and employees in private sector institutions by registering them with the Social Security Fund, providing them with retirement rights, and regulating the mechanism for employers' contributions to paying social security dues. This will ensure, in the future, the provision of services to eligible workers and employees entitled to retirement and insurance, including retirement salaries and other services stipulated in the Retirement and Social Security Law."
The Kurdistan Region's employee salary crisis is one of the most contentious issues between Baghdad and Erbil, amid ongoing debate over oil exports, constitutional obligations, and fiscal policies. This makes the upcoming meetings between the two sides pivotal in breaking the current political and financial deadlock.
