Iraq has announced it filed a lawsuit against Greek shipping firm Marine Management Services (MMS) for exporting crude oil from the Kurdistan region.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry said on Thursday that the Greek company operated five vessels which had transported oil on behalf of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) from a Turkish port.
“MMS has actively facilitated the KRG’s illegal export scheme, repeatedly ignoring warnings that the crude oil it was carrying does not belong to the KRG,” said the Iraqi Ministry with a statement.
Furthermore, Iraq accused MMS of causing damages of at least 318 million dollars participating in the KRG’s illegal crude oil export scheme.
MMS claimed that the company was not aware of any suit filed by the Iraqi government and stated that the Greek vessels were simply transporting goods.
“We are not a party to this dispute, and any lawsuit filed against us by the Iraqi government is misdirected and ill-advised, and will be robustly defended for lacking any basis and foundation,” the company said on Thursday.
“The goods in this case is crude oil, which the KRG claims is rightfully theirs”, the company added.
The Greek company also noted that any possible dispute over the ownership of the cargoes has to be resolved between the Iraqi government and the KRG “either through a political or, failing that, a judicial process.”
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
