Prime Minister, Mr. Mohammed S. Al-Sudani, chaired the 9th regular session of the Council of Ministers. During the session, the Council of Ministers discussed the general situation in the country and the most prominent issues as well as the items on the agenda, and issued several decisions:

The Council of Ministers began the session by reviewing the security situation in Kirkuk Governorate following the security breach that led to the martyrdom of several heroes of our armed forces. The Minister of Interior presented a briefing about the incident and the measures taken to prevent such security breaches.

To support vulnerable groups and give internally displaced persons the utmost importance, the Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Trade, in cooperation with the private sector companies supporting the ministry, to prepare food and aid packages that include (22) items, and distribute them to the IDPs camps in Nineveh Governorate (Al-Khazir, Hassan Sham, Esan, Yuto, Mam Rashan).

Following the orders of His Excellency the Prime Minister to support the poor and people with limited income, and based on the government program, the Council of Ministers decided to add and increase the food ration shown in the table below for the poor, people with limited income and those covered by social protection network.

•  Increasing sugar (1 kg per person)
• Increasing cooking oil (1 liter per person)
• Adding tea (200 gm per person)
• Adding milk (250 g per person)
• Adding 00 flour (1 kg per person)

In its agenda, the Council of Ministers discussed the efforts made by the engineering and service effort team and providing services to disadvantaged residential areas. To achieve the main objectives of the team, which are in line with the government program, the Council of Ministers approved the following:

1.  Giving the service and engineering effort team, in coordination with the relevant departments, the authority to implement infrastructure projects for areas of arable lands owned by the state or by private owners or the land that has become residential areas within the boundaries of the basic designs of the city of Baghdad or municipalities in the governorates.
2. The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers will follow up with the Council of Representatives to complete the procedures for enacting the law of allocating arable lands within the basic design of Baghdad and municipalities, issued according to the Council of Ministers Decision (207 of 2019).

To continue work on the development of the capital, Baghdad, and to improve its services, the Council of Ministers decided the following:

– Extending Council of Ministers Decisions (377 of 2021 and 214 of 2022) regarding authorizing the Mayoralty of Baghdad to directly implement and divide work for projects to develop shops and streets in the capital, Baghdad, within the federal operational budget for the next fiscal year until the end of 2023.

The Council of Ministers discussed the work mechanisms of the Iraqi Drilling Company and ways for overcoming the obstacles facing its work, as the Council approved the recommendation of the Ministerial Council for Energy (50 of 2022) according to the following:

– Renewing the exemption of the Iraqi Drilling Company from the two methods of contracting (single offer and direct contracting) set out in the instructions for executing government contracts (2 of 2014) to enable the Ministry of Oil companies to contract drilling and reclamation work by the Iraqi Drilling Company for being exclusively specialized in this field.

During the session, there was a discussion of the Basra refinery project in its fourth phase and its basic requirements, as the Council of Ministers approved the following:

1.  Approving the financing terms stated in the Ministry of Finance’s letter No. (11518) dated December 11, 2022, and authorizing the Minister of Finance to sign a loan agreement financing the Basra Refinery Project (the fourth phase) funded by the Japan Cooperation Agency, based on the provisions of Article (5/I) of the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development Law (2 of 2022).
2.  Including the fifth phase of the project in the Federal Budget for the fiscal year / 2023.

The Council of Ministers discussed other topics on the agenda and issued the following decisions:

• First / Approval of the bill for ratifying agreement for the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax evasion on income and capital between the government of the Republic of Iraq and the government of the Republic of Turkey, which was prepared by the State Council, and referred it to the Council of Representatives based on the provisions of the constitution.

• Second / Approval of the bill for ratifying the Arab Protocol to Prevent and Combat Maritime Piracy and Armed Robbery annexed to the Arab Convention on Combating Transnational Organized Crime, prepared by the State Council, and referring it to the Council of Representatives based on the provisions of the constitution.

• Third/ Revocation of the Council of Ministers’ Decision (242 of 2021) regarding the appointment of (Ali Jassim Yusef Mohsen Al-Yasiri) as deputy head of the Border Crossings Authority for violating the service condition mentioned in Article (1 / IV) of the Border Crossings Authority Law (30 of 2016).

• Fourth / Discontinue the collection of customs duties and tax amounts in advance stipulated in Article (16 / IV) of the Federal Budget for the fiscal year 2021 because it expires at the end of the fiscal year 2021, and reiterating that the General Authority for Customs and the General Commission of Taxes must collect those customs fees and taxes on goods entering Iraq at the border crossings.