Nada Al-Bustani’s poignant response to the “new”

Former Energy Minister Nada Al-Bustani responded in a statement: “To what was mentioned on the Al-Jadeed channel on 12/27/222020 during the event program with journalist Samar Abu Khalil and Professor Jean Aziz, and in the news report prepared by the journalist Hadi Al-Amin within the evening news bulletin of the same day on the subject The authorization and assignment sent to the Banque du Liban, which is usually attached to the opening letters of credit for the purchase Fuel, which includes fallacies, the least described is a misunderstanding and interpretation.

And “to avoid misleading public opinion,” Al-Bustani clarified in his statement the following:

First: I remember the new station where I was the first to ask Electricity de France (EDF) to carry out the necessary laboratory tests to ensure the quality of the fuel used in the Lebanese Electricity Laboratories in July 2019, and in my tweet On April 5, 2020, I announced the issuance of As a result of the examinations, I demanded that the fraudulent fuel file be terminated and that everyone involved be held accountable. Canceling import contracts, conducting transparent bids or at least modifying the terms of the current contract.

Second: The authorization and assignment letter that all successive energy ministers have sent from 2005 to today, accompanied by opening documentary letters of credits for the purchase of fuel oil or gas oil from the Algerian company Sonatrach and KPC, is a procedure purely administrative that was approved at the request of the Bank of Lebanon in order to expedite and facilitate the opening. Credits and surpluses to the treasury paying compensation for delay in unloading the cargo from the ship in case of lack of documents or typographical errors, and does not oblige the Lebanese state represented by the Ministry of Energy to pay any sum in case the shipment does not meet the specifications, and this is what really happened in the file of the ship “Baltic” when it was requested The Minister of Energy suspended the process of opening the accreditation after the issuance of the results of the laboratory tests that indicated that the fuel shipment was invalid.

Consequently, the opening of the documentary credit does not mean in any way transferring the amounts to the account of the supplying company, but rather a guarantee by the state that the funds are available and ready for payment upon the arrival of the ship to the Lebanon and to ensure that your documents are correct and meet the specifications established by the EDL.

Third: The suggestion that this authorization be limited to the assignments assigned to Sonatrach only, noting that it also includes the Kuwaiti company KPC, is a scandalous attempt to present the matter as part of the fraudulent fuel file, knowing that this form of authorizations It is approved by all banks in commercial deals that require opening credits.

In short, the new broadcaster, before I was sued in the media, issued an advance ruling and provided news on my behalf, should have verified all the authorities interested in this authorization, such as the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Finance , the Banque du Liban and all commercial banks that adopt this way of opening credits to show that such a mandate cannot include bypassing. Fuel specs never.