20 December 2003 11:34
RUSSIA`S OIL CONTRACTS WITH IRAQ REMAIN IN FORCE - MOSCOW
MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - Moscow is going ahead with the assumption that the oil contracts for Russian companies in
Iraq have not been cancelled. "We believe that the oil contracts in Iraq signed by Russian companies, primarily the
major ones for developing oilfields which have currently been suspended, have not been cancelled and the question will
be settled with the new legitimate authorities in Iraq," Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov told a Friday news
conference in Moscow. "The American authorities have also confirmed this belief," he said. "This creates
a good potential for keeping the contracts signed by Russian companies," he said adding that their implementation
will promote the reconstruction of Iraq. Fedotov said Russian companies are ready to participate in Iraqi reconstruction
programs and engage in broad contacts with the coalition authorities and Iraqi officials. He said that Russian companies
had already sent their representatives to Baghdad a while ago. Concerning the participation of Russian companies in
contests for Iraqi contracts, he said that the terms of participation are a commercial matter and that companies and
their respective partners should decide on them. "In its turn, the Foreign Ministry is rendering companies full
assistance and support on this matter," he said.
"I only said that we do not have reliable information to this end. We
are looking forward to the further course of developments. So far,
Responding to a question, Fedotov said he did not doubt that it was Saddam Hussein whom Americans had seized in
Iraq.
everyone tends to believe that it really is Saddam Hussein," he said.
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