Shafaq News – Baghdad
Salaries for about 1,300 Iraqi employees of Russia’s Lukoil have been delayed for six weeks, the Eco Iraq Observatory said on Saturday.
According to the Observatory, staff at the West Qurna 2 field in Basra normally receive their pay between the 22nd and 25th of each month through the Bank of Baghdad and the National Bank of Iraq, but this month they received only emailed pay slips with no transfers.
Neither the Iraqi government nor Lukoil have yet to comment on the delay.
Lukoil operates one of Iraq’s largest oil fields and has faced repeated payment and banking disruptions since it was added to the United States' sanctions lists last month, complicating dollar transactions for Russian energy companies working in Iraq.
According to Reuters sources, the company declared force majeure at the field days earlier, citing operational disruptions linked to the sanctions. Iraqi oil officials warned that if the situation is not resolved within six months, Lukoil may halt production and withdraw from the project entirely.