ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers on Wednesday urged the Iraqi federal government to disburse the Region’s civil servants salaries for August and September, and discussed mechanisms to deliver Erbil’s federal treasury’s share of non-oil revenues to facilitate the disbursement process.

Chaired by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, the Council held a regular meeting on Wednesday, highlighting the Kurdish Region’s “financial situation,” following the signing of the breakthrough agreement to resume Erbil’s oil exportation and the persisting issues regarding the non-oil revenues, to secure the financial entitlements of the Region’s employees.

Erbil and Baghdad have been engaged in negotiations for months to address their disagreements over oil exports and domestic revenue.

The KRG cabinet called on Baghdad to direct the finance ministry to disburse the civil servants’ salaries, in light of the implementation of the tripartite agreement “without shortcomings,” read the statement.

The Kurdistan Region’s oil exports resumed through Iraq’s State Organization for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) in late September after a halt that lasted over two years after a tripartite agreement was signed between Erbil, Baghdad, and international oil companies operating in the Region.

“More than three million barrels of the Region's oil have been sold in the international market by SOMO, and the revenues have been returned to the [Iraqi] federal Ministry of Finance,” the statement added.

The council also approved a number of directives and proposals to implement “the Kurdistan Region's commitments to send the federal treasury's share of non-oil revenues,” and prioritizing the budget transfer “above all [other] expenditures.”

After the resolution of the long-standing dispute between over oil exports, Erbil and Baghdad’s disagreements over the issue of sharing domestic revenues remain the main point of contention between the two sides, with a temporary settlement reached in the interim that would see Erbil send Baghdad 120 billion dinar as the federal treasury’s share of the Kurdistan Region’s domestic revenues until a final resolution is reached.

The measure was taken so that Iraq’s finance ministry “has no excuse for not sending the salaries for both months of August and September and the subsequent months,” the statement noted.

KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani told The New Region earlier in the day that Erbil has entered into discussions with Baghdad to secure upcoming salary disbursements, stating: “We have informed the federal government that from the beginning of the new year, we demand the budget.”

“A delegation from the Kurdistan Region will soon start these discussions,” the spokesperson asserted.

The Iraqi government’s finance ministry in May decided to suspend funding the Kurdistan Region’s civil servant salaries, arguing that the Region had already exhausted its share of the annual budget in May.