Fake oil fields and border crossings drain state revenues

Reports 12:19 PM - 2022-12-08

Fake oil fields and border crossings drain state revenues

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is strongly in favor of open revenue and expenditure records, as well as the return of funds to the public treasury.

Erbil and Duhok are home to the majority of the official and unofficial international border crossings because they share borders with Turkey, Syria, and Iran. They also account for the majority of trade in the Kurdistan Region.

"I'm not a financial expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I like to think I'm quite logical. So we're expected to compete with that side. And there's just physically no way we can. We have a border with Iran. One border with Iran. We have a couple of points, but it's basically one border with Iran" Bafel Jalal Talabani, the president of the PUK, spoke with Lizzy Porter of the Iraq Oil Report.

"The Syria border. Nobody knows what comes from there, what goes from there. Well, we know what's coming from there and going from there, but none of this is coming into the coffers of the government. None of this is coming into any kind of overview or overwatch. And then we have what I call ghost oil fields," "he added.

The government does not receive any revenues from Syrian border crossings

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is aware that the proceeds from border crossings, particularly those with Syria, don't go back to the state, according to Shamol Ashti, a member of the Kurdistan parliament, who spoke to PUKMEDIA.

“Even the official border crossings' profits are unknown to us”, according to Shamol Ashti. “There are many unauthorized border crossings in Erbil and Duhok, and their income is unknown and does not go to the government”.

"There are members of tribes that have their own oil fields and border crossings, and the government is not allowed to question them about where they got their money or query them as to why they do not deposit their profits into the state treasury?" He said.

The KDP prohibits revenue transparency

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) does not want its earnings to be open because it earns significant sums of money from illegal border crossings between the Kurdistan Region and Syria.

Aras Mohammed Agha, a member of the PUK Leadership Council, said to PUKMEDIA that the KDP should discuss the income they are receiving from the fictitious border crossings between the Kurdistan Region and Syria, from which they are not remitting even one dinar to the treasury.

The KDP "would not permit any party to know the revenues of official and irregular border crossing, as well as the internal revenues of Erbil and Duhok, and even oil revenues," he stated.

He further added, "Throughout the KDP, there is no transparency. This mentality has humiliated the people and brought the KRG to where it is now.”

A starvation policy 

The KDP does not want revenues and spending to be transparent and is carrying out its illegal demands through the government and parliament. The party is implementing a starvation strategy for the masses.

The KDP is pursuing a policy of starving people in the government, according to Karwan Gaznay, a member of the Kurdistan Parliament's Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “If it collected transparently and distributed all revenues equally among the provinces, this situation would not be taking place,” he added.

He also stated, 
"The KDP is obstructing the government's and parliament's ability to track revenues and expenses. Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami and the KDP faction have blocked our attempts to add this matter to the agenda of the parliament on multiple occasions.”

The KRG cabinet's lack of transparency regarding income and expenses has worsened, which is poor governance. The PUK publicly calls for the correction of the Kurdistan Region's poor governance route, and for this reason, the majority of political parties support the PUK.
 


PUKMEDIA