Iraqi PM to talk rebirth of Russian business in Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will arrive in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the return of Russian companies to the Iraqi market, ITAR-Tass reports.

“In the Russian capital, Nuri al-Maliki will discuss prospects for developing economic and political relations with Russia,” a source at the Iraqi embassy in Moscow said.

“Prospects for renewing Russia’s oil contracts and a possibility for Russian companies to work in Iraq will certainly be discussed. We are planning to discuss how to finish the job that was interrupted in 2003,” the Iraqi diplomatic source went on to say.

Earlier, in his interview with Itar-Tass the Iraqi prime minister said that he would bring a package of concrete proposals on joint projects in the economy and other spheres for the Moscow talks.

“We think that time has come to activate our bilateral cooperation in the political and economic spheres as well as military and technological ties,” the Iraqi prime minister said.

“All these years we were sure that the Russian-Iraqi relations would be preserved and would continue to be strong. The fact that Russia has written off Iraq’s debts proves that its position to our country has remained unchanged,” Nuri al-Maliki said.

During his stay in Moscow, the Iraqi prime minister will meet President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The main topics for discussion will be the return of Russian companies to the Iraqi market, their cooperation with Iraqi partners in the oil, energy and construction sectors. Experts believe the talk will be about renewing contracts of the Russian company LUKOIL for developing the Western Kurna oil deposit in Iraq. These contracts were signed in 1995 and 1997.

Other issues of mutual interest include the internal situation in Iraq and Russian-Iraqi cooperation on international and regional problems such as the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.