OREANDA-NEWS. Negotiations were held in Bagdad on May 25, 2008, between His Excellency Mr. Hussein Al-Shahristani Minister of Oil of Iraq and First Vice-President of Stroytransgaz Leonid Bokhanovsky, who headed a delegation from Russia. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Iraq Vladimir Chamov took part in the negotiations as well.

During the meeting, Minister Al-Shahristani confirmed that Iraq wishes to develop a dialogue with Russia that would enable the countries, in open and businesslike manner, to discuss all principal issues concerning bilateral trade and economic relations. He emphasized his country’s interest in expanding business cooperation that would promote speedy restoration of a post-crisis economy in Iraq. Both sides noted that between their countries many areas of cooperation have been preserved: oil and gas production, construction of infrastructure and facilities for electric power, procurement of  products for mechanical engineering, collaboration in the social sphere, and others.

Russian companies have acquired considerable experience working in Iraq. Despite extremely complicated circumstances, specialists today are helping to build and modernize crucial elements of Iraqi infrastructure in various regions of the country.

Negotiations were conducted in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. The Minister of Oil acknowledged his interest in productive collaboration with Stroytransgaz in the oil and gas sphere. In particular, Minister Al-Shahristani and his Russian colleagues discussed reconstructing the oil pipeline that runs for the Kirkuk field in Iraq through Syria to the Baniyas terminal on the Mediterranean Sea, exploring Block 4 (an area of 12,600 square kilometers) in the Western Desert, and continuing to construct the second strategic oil pipeline, Rumeila-Khadita (232 kilometers).