MOSCOW- The work of Russia's biggest oil company, Rosneft , in Iraqi Kurdistan is beneficial for Iraq as well as its autonomous region and the Russian economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"We presume that there is no reason why we should not develop relations with the Kurdish people and we'll be doing that," Putin told an annual news conference.

(Reporting by Jack Stubbs, Vladimir Soldatkin and Denis Pinchuk; writing by Maria Kiselyova) ((maria.kiselyova@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: maria.kiselyova.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))