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Iraq earns additional €354 million under UN's oil-for-food scheme

Iraq earns additional €354 million under UN's oil-for-food scheme

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Iraq has earned an additional €354 million (euros) under the United Nations oil-for-food programme, which allows Baghdad to export its petroleum and use a portion of the revenues to purchase humanitarian relief.

According to statistics released today by the Office of the Iraq Programme, over the past week Baghdad exported an average of 2.08 million barrels of crude per day, earning an estimated €24.22 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the Security Council committee monitoring the sanctions against Iraq released holds on 41 contracts worth $125 million, but placed new holds on 38 contracts with a combined value of $140.6 million. In total, 1,170 contracts worth $3.6 billion are now on hold.

The recently released contracts were for a variety of goods, including trucks, bulldozers and pumps, while the new holds were placed on contracts for gas turbines, cranes and a water treatment plant, as well as laboratory, medical and hospital rehabilitation equipment.

According to the Office of the Iraq Programme, contracts are generally put on hold because they lack technical specifications or because the goods in question have the potential to be used for purposes other than those stated.