Omed Sabah, President of the Diwan of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers, stated that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has sent a letter to Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and asked him not to pay attention to the opinion of the State Council regarding the non-oil revenues of the Kurdistan Region.

Sabah told a press conference on Monday that the Kurdistan Region is “ready to pay the federal treasury share whenever they are ready to pay our salaries.”

He confirmed that the KRG is prepared to pay the August and September domestic revenues immediately.

State Council Reports Deemed Against Constitution

He stressed that the reports and consultations of the State Council are against the Iraqi constitution and laws, and “we have asked not to be implemented.”

The President of the Diwan highlighted that they have urged Iraq to negotiate in order to settle the issues between both sides. 

Negotiations on Non-Oil Revenues Remain Ongoing

Erbil and Baghdad sign a landmark agreement to re-export oil from the Kurdistan Region on September 25; nevertheless, talks over non-oil revenues are still ongoing and remain unresolved.

The State Council was consulted on the matter by the Iraqi government, and a report was written and sent back to the cabinet. Earlier, an official source told Channel8 the KRG intends to propose to Baghdad not to adopt the State Council’s report and to reopen negotiations on the matter of non-oil revenues.

The last meeting of the KRG Council of Ministers reaffirmed the cabinet’s commitment to share non-oil revenues with the Iraqi Ministry of Finance.