The Iraqi judiciary obligated the Rafidain State Bank to pay $600 million to the "Ishtar Gateway" company for electronic payment systems and services, as a penalty for not applying a previous contract between the two parties.
The matter sparked widespread controversy and uproar in Iraq, prompting the Supreme Judicial Council, the Integrity Commission and the Ministry of Finance to intervene.
Al-Rafidain Bank issued a clarification to public opinion regarding the court’s decision to pay a fine to the Ishtar Gate Company, noting that “the contract that was concluded with the Ishtar Gate Company was on 3/04/2021 by the former general manager of the bank before obtaining the Ministry’s approval according to the rules on The contract formula, as the contract violated many of the previous technical conditions that the Ministry had specified for the bidders.
Al-Rafidain Bank indicated that “after presenting the contract to the ministry and reviewing the commercial aspects of it, which grants the bidder unjustified advantages and profits at the expense of the bank’s customers, and when the ministry was informed of the conclusion of the contract, the minister directed that the contract be re-audit in the interest of the ministry on 3/9/2021 or cancel it. If necessary, the contract should not be signed except with the approval of the legal department and the information technology department in the ministry and in accordance with the previous instructions.
He added, "The matter was referred to investigation with the withdrawal of the hand of the former director general of the bank at the time, with the file referred to the Integrity Commission to take legal measures against the negligent," noting that "the company resorted to the judiciary to request the termination of the contract and compensation after the Ministry's decisive procedures, and the competent court issued its decision to annul the contract." The contract with obligating the bank to the amount of compensation.
For its part, the Integrity Commission issued a clarification statement in which it stated, "there is an investigative case that was filed on the third of last June before the judge specialized in integrity issues, regarding the contract concluded for the issuance of electronic payment cards between Al-Rafidain Bank and the Ishtar Electronic Payment Gateway Company."
The integrity statement indicated that "the case received by a member of the House of Representatives (the Parliamentary Integrity Committee) was linked with one of the cases that it had previously investigated, for their participation in the issue of violations in the contract between the bank and the company."
President of the Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zaidan (right) during his meeting with Finance Minister Ali Allawi, where they discussed legal problems in contracts with private sector companies (Iraqi press)
In the context, the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, received Minister of Finance Ali Abdel Amir Allawi, and according to a statement of the Judicial Council, Zaidan discussed with Allawi, "the legal problems related to contracts signed with private sector companies and the role of the judiciary in correcting the errors raised regarding those contracts and cooperation from in order to preserve public money.
The case of the Rafidain Bank and the Ishtar Gate Company, and the penalty clause between them, sparked widespread controversy on social media platforms in Iraq, amid calls to preserve public money and hold those involved in wasting it accountable.
A member of the House of Representatives, Hussein Arab, said through his Twitter account, “600 million dollars in compensation that the Rafidain Bank will pay to one of the private companies, whose capital could be one million from the above figure.” By doing so, we pledge to defend the money of citizens and the state.”
The Rafidain Bank contract and its penalty clause amounted to $600 million, the electricity was almost completely extinguished, and the gasoline was scarce
.
— Bangen Rekani (@BangenRe) August 8, 2022
The former Minister of Construction and Housing, “Two Rikani Banks,” wrote on his Twitter account, “The Rafidain Bank contract and its penalty clause amounted to 600 million dollars, the electricity was almost completely extinguished, and the gasoline was scarce. ".
Rikani added that "a comprehensive restructuring by professionals, otherwise more collapse."
The Iraqi state will not succeed by continuing the socialist heritage and the government's dominance over the operational sectors that finance political quotas and legitimize corruption and mismanagement.
All sectors must be privatized with international standards and the accreditation of the discreet private sector and international companies for reconstruction.
The duty of the government is administrative/regulatory and tax collecting only https://t.co/YAJpMszrCz
— Luay al-Khatteeb Luay al-Khatteeb (@AL_Khatteeb) August 8, 2022
"The Iraqi state will not succeed in continuing the socialist heritage and the government's dominance over the operational sectors that finance political quotas and legitimize corruption and mismanagement," former Electricity Minister Louay al-Khatib said on his Twitter account.
Al-Khatib added, "All sectors must be privatized according to international standards, and the sober private sector and international companies must be approved for construction. The government's duty is only administrative/regulatory and tax collecting."
They were shocked by $600 million!?!
♦️ Monthly in the Ministry of Oil, this amount is withdrawn and from various joints of the ministry!?
♦️ Theft of public money annually reaches 5 billion dollars
As for the waste of public money, it reaches 10 billion dollars
That is, between theft and waste, 15 billion dollars are lost annually from the money of the Iraqi people
- Qusai Mahbouba (@last_knights_iq) August 8, 2022
Politician Qusai Mahbouba asked on his Twitter account, "Shocked by $600 million?"
He added, "This amount is withdrawn every month in the Ministry of Oil and from various parts of the ministry. Theft in public money annually amounts to 5 billion dollars, and the waste of public money reaches 10 billion dollars, that is, between theft and waste 15 billion dollars are lost annually from the people's money. Iraqi".
Rusafa Court of Appeal issues a judicial decision obligating Rafidain Bank to pay $600 million to Ishtar Company for not implementing a contract concluded between the two parties.!
Who signed the penalty clause and why the contract was not implemented?
The truth is that the contract and its non-implementation and the penalty clause all revolve around the cycle of systematic corruption..# We looted pic.twitter.com/IbbT53Zzru
— Hussam Alhaj (@HussamAlhaj4) August 7, 2022