ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) cabinet convened on Wednesday to discuss its stance in negotiations with Baghdad over the accumulated unpaid salaries, with its spokesperson saying that they will discuss the Region’s share of the federal budget after the Iraqi government is formed. 

The KRG's Council of Ministers on Wednesday held its first regular meeting of 2026, discussing unpaid civil servants’ salaries by Baghdad as well as finding settlements with the Iraqi government over the management of oil exports.  

KRG spokesperson Peshawa Hawramani said that the cabinet is focused on discussions of the Kurdistan Region's share of the Iraqi budget, as opposed to individual salaries. "We will not let go of the seven salaries that have gone unpaid over the last three years," he told reporters after the meeting.

"We will not discuss the subject of salaries with the federal government, we will talk about the budget, what the Kurdistan Region's share of the budget will be," he asserted. 

Budget and salaries, along with domestic revenues and oil exports, have been the focal point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad for years. 

Disagreements over budget, the management of oil exports, and domestic revenues have seen Baghdad refuse to fund the Region's civil servants' salaries for months. The Iraqi government has refused to pay seven salaries of the Kurdistan Region's public sector, including November and December of last year. 

"Until now, what has been allocated to the Kurdistan Region has been far, far less than its legal and constitutional right," Hawramani stressed, adding that Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has already instructed the KRG’s cabinet for the "preparation of a document so that we are better prepared when negotiations start."

Speaking to a September agreement that saw the resumption of oil exports from the Kurdistan Region's oil fields after a 30-month halt, Hawramani said that the agreement will automatically renew if neither side has objections to it.

The current terms of the agreement have the Kurdistan Region selling its oil through Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), and handing over 120 billion dinars in domestic revenues to Baghdad on a monthly basis, in exchange for the disbursement of its civil servant salaries.

Hawramani said that the resumption of negotiations with Baghdad is currently pending the formation of the new Iraqi government, adding that discussions will focus on the Kurdistan Region's budget share. 

Iraq held its sixth parliamentary elections in November and is currently in the process of forming its next government. The new lawmakers have been sworn in and have held several sessions. However, a president and prime minister have yet to be decided among political blocs.