Russian Foreign Ministry comments on cancellation of LUKoil-Iraqi contract

Moscow regrets to learn that the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum decided to cancel its contract with the Russian consortium including LUKoil and its partners, for the exploration of the Western Kurna oil deposit, a report from the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry says.

This step can be estimated only as non-corresponding to friendly Russian-Iraqi relations and to the level of bilateral collaboration in various fields. It is perplexing that it was made when Russia was striving for the settlement of the tense situation around Iraq and for solving the Iraqi problem by peaceful political means.

It is understandable that while implementing various projects in Iraq, problems could emerge, if one takes into account the specific conditions of the country due to economic sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. No Russian company can violate the sanctions, the Ministry's report points out. However, one cannot solve such problems by unilateral steps.

Moscow really hopes that the situation between LUKoil and the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum will be settled via negotiations.

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