| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
WRITING IN THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS some time ago, I attempted to estimate the degree of various political, economic and legal risks likely to confront Russian oil companies as they attempt to come to the "unpredictable" Iraqi market (see: E. Kasayev, "Baghdad 'Traps' for the Russian Oil Business," International Affairs, 2007, No. 6, pp. 43 - 51). Certain changes have cropped up in bilateral relations between Russia and Iraq since then, and some important events took place both in political life and in business.
An agreement was signed whereby the Russian side wrote off 93% of the Iraqi state debt worth 12.9 billion dollars. Later a Russian delegation led by A.V. Saltanov, Special Representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, held negotiations with President Jalal Talabani of Iraq. Last spring, representatives of Russian business led by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia (CCI) Academician Ye.M. Primakov came to Iraqi Kurdistan to establish closer ties with Iraq.
All these events indicate that both states are seeking to find an answer to this incisive question in current Russian-Iraqi relations: What are the chances that the Russian companies become fully-fledged "players" (along with Western companies) in the energy field of modern Iraq?
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