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Interview with Nechirvan Barzani regarding
KRG and DNO
7.10.2009
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October
7, 2009
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — On
Tuesdy, the KRG.org interviewed Nechirvan Barzani,
the outgoing Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region,
regarding the recent media speculation surrounding
the KRG and DNO.
What is your opinion of the
media speculation on the DNO issue and the
involvement of the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources?
This was a very unfair media campaign against the
KRG and its oil and gas policy, but particularly
against the Minister of Natural Resources Dr Ashti
Hawrami. If you look at the whole event, you wonder
what was released, why it was released in that
manner and why it was reported the way it was.
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Nechirvan Barzani, the outgoing
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region |
I
would like to make it clear that Dr Hawrami has
always acted in his capacity as a Minister and with
my knowledge and the guidelines approved by myself.
I have now received a letter from our bank, HSBC, in
which they say that using a nominee account is
absolutely normal and legal, that HSBC acted on
behalf of the KRG using an official KRG account when
the shares were purchased.
In their letter to me HSBC confirms that:
“All the accounts have been duly setup in the name
of Ministry Natural Resources-Kurdistan Regional
Government, Council of Ministers, Kurdistan
Region-Iraq.”
“The accounts have been at all times operated in
accordance with the agreed KRG mandates with HSBC
and authorised signatures, which have always
included your own written instructions received by
HSBC in their original forms.”
“The shares purchases account was an official KRG
account, only KRG funds were used for the shares
purchases and all the sales proceeds were deposited
back to KRG’s respective accounts.”
“For the purposes of purchasing shares, HSBC acted
on behalf of KRG and a nominee account was used for
those purposes. This was done in consultation with
the Minister of Natural Resources, and in accordance
with our advice and recommendations.”
“Using a nominee account instead of the direct
client name is absolutely normal, legal and often
chosen by many governmental organisations, companies
and investors to protect their privacy.”
These are crucial facts that should not have allowed
any speculation.
We have also learned from our bank that the Oslo
Stock Exchange (OSE) was informed on 3rd November
2008 that the buyer was the “Kurdistan Regional
Government - Ministry of Natural Resources. The
order was place by Dr Ashti Hawrami, the Minister of
Natural Resources for the KRG. Their address is:
Council of Ministers, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq”.
For some reasons beyond our comprehension, this fact
was not released by the OSE. Fair and just reporting
based on the facts would not have provided any
grounds for the kind of speculation the KRG and the
Minister of Natural Resources were subjected to.
It was clear from the beginning that everything was
done properly, legally and according to the
practices and recommendations of our bank. There was
no doubt at any time about the process. This also
was made clear in the meeting between my Senior
Adviser Dr Khaled Salih and the OSE which was made
public on 28th September in which they confirmed
that OSE “does not have any issues with the KRG,www.ekurd.netand
that KRG has not at any time been the subject of
investigations” by OSE. [Click here to see the OSE
statement]
What can we expect to
happen next in this context?
We have the facts in our hands and we can provide
the accurate picture of what the KRG did and what
happened with the release of information by the OSE
that led to all the speculation. We have also
received two letters from DNO in which they indicate
that there were specific motives for these
deliberate and unjust actions that were orchestrated
from Norway and the fact that the share purchases
helped the company to carry out their working
programme. [DNO letter to Kurdistan Region
leadership and DNO letter to Ministry of Natural
Resources]
In order to verify what has happened here, I will
ask our Parliament to form a committee to look at
the facts as soon as possible. The reason for that
is very simple: I have no doubt in my mind about the
Minister’s actions. As Prime Minister I was
responsible for the KRG’s oil and gas policy. I am
proud of our achievements. If some people are trying
to undermine our policy and in desperation targeting
the Minister, I can assure our people that our
strategy and policy will continue to be as
unwavering as before.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
krg org
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