Pavel Zavalnyi
Pavel Nikolaevich
stressed that Iraq has historically been one of the friendliest states in the Middle East towards Russia. Recently this country has been experiencing one of the hardest periods of its history, and the stabilization period has not yet
been completed. According to the Chairman of the Committee, the formation of the new Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Iraq is, of course, a positive fact. This opens up new opportunities for economic cooperation. One of the most promising sectors for investments, along with the oil, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy considers the electricity industry.
However, to enter projects companies need stability and a favorable business climate.
Haidar Mansour Hadi Avis noted that the friendly relations of Russia and Iraq have already had more than seventy years of history. Nowadays bilateral economic cooperation is developing mainly in the oil sector. He informed that the federal government of Iraq provides all Russian companies that invest in Iraqi projects with all possible support, including guarantees for the safety of their employees and the provision of benefits. Haidar Mansour Hadi Avis drew attention to the fact that today the country that had passed through a difficult period of combating international terrorism needs to restore infrastructure, including energy, and hopes that this sector will be of interest to Russian business in terms of expanding economic cooperation.
According to Pavel Zavalnyi, harmonization of legislation and political support of cooperation and projects will contribute to the formation of a comfortable investment environment.
According to the Chairman of the Committee, the State Duma has a positive experience of bilateral interparliamentary interaction with many states, and high-level contacts and contacts at the level of ”friendship groups“ are effectively complemented by interaction at the level of committees. It would be worthwhile to use this experience with the expansion of Russian-Iraqi cooperation, the parliamentarian said. Pavel Zavalnyi said that the Committee on Energy is ready to begin such cooperation.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Iraq agreed with such approach. The parties agreed that as soon as the committees of the Iraqi Parliament were formed contacts between the committees would be initiated.
