Korek Telecom loses legal shield in Iraq debt dispute

Korek Telecom, a company worth over $2 billion, with millions of subscribers across Iraq, owned by Sirwan Barzani, the nephew of Massoud Barzani, 2026. Photo: INA/via iKurd.net

Iraq Court Ruling Leaves Korek Exposed to Debt Claims

BAGHDAD,— A Baghdad appeals court has thrown out a ruling that had forced Iraq’s telecom regulator to honor its debt settlement with Korek Telecom, the Kurdistan Region-based mobile operator owned by Sirwan Barzani, the Communications and Media Commission announced Tuesday.

The Rusafa Court of Appeal, ruling in its appellate role, reversed an earlier decision by the Rusafa Court of First Instance that had required the commission to stick to the settlement’s terms. The commission said the appeals court issued the ruling after the regulator challenged the lower court’s decision.

Commission officials said their legal department interprets the new ruling to mean Korek can no longer use the overturned decision to force the regulator into carrying out the settlement.

“Based on this decision, Korek is obliged to pay the financial debts it owes to this commission in accordance with the approved legal and regulatory procedures,” the commission said in its statement. It added that it will continue pursuing legal action to recover the funds it says it is owed.

The legal fight traces back to September 28, when the Rusafa Court of First Instance canceled the commission’s June 2 decision to scrap the settlement, effectively keeping the agreement alive.

At the time, the commission said that ruling did not restore Korek’s operations or cancel other penalties, and that the company’s debts to the state remained unchanged.

Korek pointed to that September ruling as grounds for its position. On Nov. 1, the same day regulators cut off Korek’s network across 14 governorates outside the Kurdistan Region.

The company accused commission chief executive Baligh Abu Kalal of violating the law by refusing to enforce a judgment that takes effect immediately. Korek said it reserved the right to seek compensation over the shutdown.

In late October 2026, Abu Kalal said Korek must pay 500 billion Iraqi dinars ($330 million), and submit a federal tax clearance before service could resume.

He described the payment as a first installment toward total debts exceeding 2 trillion dinars, roughly $1.3 billion. He said the tax clearance would need to come from the federal Finance Ministry.

Abu Kalal said the commission would be willing to sign a new settlement and allow Korek back into operation once both conditions are met.

He also said the commission had formally requested a change in Korek’s management, a step he said the contract permits.

In April, the commission reported that Korek owed roughly 1.4 trillion dinars, about $1.06 billion at that time, under the settlement signed in September 2025, with the balance continuing to grow.

The commission canceled that agreement in June, citing Korek’s failure to meet its obligations, and ordered the closure of Korek’s offices in Baghdad and other governorates.

A Rusafa court paused those measures in August, though the commission said the same court later withdrew that order on appeal.

The roots of the dispute stretch back to the 2007 mobile license auction. The commission maintains Korek still owes $375 million from that process.

Korek disputes this, saying the payment was conditional on the regulator transferring the subscriber base of the former Iraqna network, a transfer the company says never took place.

Sirwan Barzani, the nephew of Massoud Barzani and the managing director of Korek Telecom, a company worth over $2 billion, with millions of subscribers across Iraq, 2024. Photo: iKurd.net/Barzani’s X

Sirwan Barzani, a military commander who has been convicted of fraud and nephew of Massoud Barzani, serves as managing director of Korek Telecom, a company valued at more than $2 billion with over seven million subscribers and nearly 3,500 towers spread across Iraq, including Erbil and the Kurdistan region.

Mazen Sirwan Barzani holds the position of director of relations at the company, keeping the family in control of its operations. Observers say the company’s expansion stemmed less from merit than from its access to Kurdistan Regional Government institutions, which critics contend the family used for personal gain while avoiding oversight.

Korek paid nearly $600 million to secure its license, funds drawn from the KRG’s own budget and used for Sirwan Barzani’s private benefit.

In March 2023, Kuwaiti logistics firm Agility, along with a subsidiary and an affiliate, won $1.65 billion in damages through arbitration against Korek Telecom and Sirwan Barzani. The Kurdistan Regional Government is responsible for paying that amount.

That same month, Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson said it would pay a $207 million fine for violating an agreement with US authorities by failing to disclose an investigation into suspected bribes paid to the Islamic State group in Iraq and the Kurdistan region.

Reports indicated Sirwan Barzani was allegedly connected to the Ericsson case.

(With files from 964media | Agencies)