19-09-02 Iraq is interested in closer cooperation with Belarus in the energy sector, a senior Iraqi minister announced in Minsk where he is on an official visit. He said he came to Belarus to familiarize himself with the country and its economy. His purpose is to find out the possibilities of Belarussian electric power companies in projects to upgrade the Iraqi energy sector.

The minister reported that three contracts have been signed with Belarus already for the supply of equipment (electric cables and transformers), two of which are worth about $ 5 mm. "These are the first steps in mutually advantageous cooperation," he said, adding that "furthermore, the number of such contracts will increase."
The minister did not rule out that in the near future specialists from the construction-assembly plant Belnenergo will be able to help to restore or construct new electric stations instead of those destroyed during the war. According to his information, after the US bombing raids in 1991, virtually all electric stations, power transmission lines and Iraq's transforming capability were destroyed.

Although the electricity supply system has been under repair as part of the UN Oil for Food program since 1996, the country is still in dire need of electricity today, said the minister. The reason for this, in his opinion, is the blockage by the US and British representatives in the UN sanctions committee of a number of contracts on equipment supplies within the framework of this program. Numbering about 200, the contracts are worth about $ 1 bn.