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Kurdish MP launches corruption suit against Iraqi Kurdistan oil ministry
7/24/2015
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A member of the Kurdistan Parliament is suing the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for providing oil to an unregistered company. MP Soran Omer of the Kurdistan Islamic Group told NRT on Thursday that he has taken legal action against the KRG’s MNR. “The MNR has given oil, worth $6 million, to an asphalt factory, which is not registered neither with the MNR nor the Ministry of Trade and Industry, nor the Kurdistan Board of Investment,” Omer said. “This is a new theft of Kurdistan’s oil,” he said, adding that the MNR, under the name of Zipo Factory, provided oil to the unregistered company. Fellow MPs Ali Hama Salih and Sherko Jawdat, along with Omer, have pledged to form an anti-corruption team to expose cases of fraud within the government. Omer’s accusations come as the KRG cracks down on illegal and unregistered oil refineries in the region. The action caused a short-term petrol crisis in the region, leaving drivers to line up for hours outside of stations waiting to fill their tanks. The United Arab Emirates transferred 25 million liters of petrol to the Kurdistan Region to deal with the crisis. Many Kurdish politicians and Observers believe that many of the oil industry projects in Iraqi Kurdistan are conducted in a non-transparent way. Some have even described them as secretive. The Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) Ashti Hawrami routinely accused of corruption by observers, Kurdish officials and Kurdish media. Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani and his relatives control a large number of commercial enterprises in Kurdistan-Iraq, with a gross value of several billion US dollars. The family is routinely accused of corruption and nepotism by Kurdish media as well as international observers. One of the most sensitive subjects is the Barzanis’ involvement in the economy of the oil-rich Kurdistan region.
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7/24/2015
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A member of the Kurdistan Parliament is suing the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) of the Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for providing oil to an unregistered company. MP Soran Omer of the Kurdistan Islamic Group told NRT on Thursday that he has taken legal action against the KRG’s MNR. “The MNR has given oil, worth $6 million, to an asphalt factory, which is not registered neither with the MNR nor the Ministry of Trade and Industry, nor the Kurdistan Board of Investment,” Omer said. “This is a new theft of Kurdistan’s oil,” he said, adding that the MNR, under the name of Zipo Factory, provided oil to the unregistered company. Fellow MPs Ali Hama Salih and Sherko Jawdat, along with Omer, have pledged to form an anti-corruption team to expose cases of fraud within the government. Omer’s accusations come as the KRG cracks down on illegal and unregistered oil refineries in the region. The action caused a short-term petrol crisis in the region, leaving drivers to line up for hours outside of stations waiting to fill their tanks. The United Arab Emirates transferred 25 million liters of petrol to the Kurdistan Region to deal with the crisis. Many Kurdish politicians and Observers believe that many of the oil industry projects in Iraqi Kurdistan are conducted in a non-transparent way. Some have even described them as secretive. The Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) Ashti Hawrami routinely accused of corruption by observers, Kurdish officials and Kurdish media. Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani and his relatives control a large number of commercial enterprises in Kurdistan-Iraq, with a gross value of several billion US dollars. The family is routinely accused of corruption and nepotism by Kurdish media as well as international observers. One of the most sensitive subjects is the Barzanis’ involvement in the economy of the oil-rich Kurdistan region.
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