Government says negotiations between government and Total International for the possible takeover Indeni Refinery are still on going.
Energy and water Development Minister Kenneth Konga told parliament this morning that it is true that government will take over ownership of the refinery to improve the supply of fuel in the country.
Mr. Konga dispelled claims that the shortage of petrol which is currently being experienced in the country was due to Total International which is disposing off its shares to government.
He explained that the current fuel crisis has nothing to do with the pulling out of the Total International from Indeni adding that the situation is as a result of the refinery catalysts and other attendant components.
He told parliament that once government and Total International conclude the negations government will make an appropriate announcement to the public on the way forward.
The minister said the Refinery will continue operating the way it has always operated.
He also assured that government will ensure that it finds a creditable partner and ensure that jobs for workers at the oil refinery are protected.
And responding to a question from Luwena Member of parliament Charles Milipi who wanted to know the value of Indeni Refinery and if government had already acquired the 50 percent shares from Total International for total ownership, Mr. Konga told the house that the value of Indeni Refinery has not yet been established since negations were still on going between the government and Total International.
ZANIS
We are watching closely…make sure you don’t sell out Indeni to Total.
With poor negotiating skills, coupled with poor management, one can not see the end of the tunnel on this one….
Mr. Konga. How do you negotiate in a vacuum? Knowing the value of the asset under consideration is the key to any negotiations, this is particularly important because Total International had the management contract to run Indeni Refinery. In your negotiations you should have first established what value Total management added to the value of the refinery if any. The reports that came out 2 years ago indicated that Indeni Refinery under Total International Management had accumulated losses amounting to over US $300 Million. From these reports it is clear Total International did not add any value to Indeni Refinery. These negotiations are just about the Zambian government taking over Total International losses of US$ 300 Million as a way to disguise grand international corruption.
Get RP Capital to evaluate & look for a strategic partner for Zambia, after all they have a millennium contract to evaluate Zambia’s asserts…….shameful country!!!!
are you kidding me! these fools are going to do what? things are going to get ugly in Zambia. Incompetence, lack of ability, lack of skill, ineffectiveness, ineptitude, stupidity… all words that describes Banda’s Administration. need I say more!
Govdernment should act swiftly on this matter, let competent partners take over from Total, current RB Admin will definately fail to run indeni. lets watch
#6 why is your first reaction a competent partner to take over. Are you saying All Zambians are incompetent of running anything???Zambians need to get their confidence back to run companies. Zambia is owned by Zambians and they need to have some level of empowerment. Foreign investment should be an added bonus….. not the only sole answer to every economic problem. One can revamp the management etc offer public shares to Zambians…You need the wealth trickling down to the poor.
#7 what kind of empowerment has any zambian government gaven to its pipo as opposed to investors? give me a list of competent individuals in RB Admin who can run indeni effectively and successfully to impress us.
#7 The govt has failed to run anything,even just a simple retail store zcbc,they have failed to run zamtel,if they wanted to empower zambians, they could have floated zamtels shares on the stock market instead of giv ing 75% to a foreigner,zambians like kavindele could have done something MAYBE ,what kind of empowering and confidence are you crying about when all we can do is blog and criticize
#9 good points and nice example on who zambian government has even failed to run shops like ZCBC, and Zamtel among other companies, i hope now # 6 have a foresight of what we are talking about if government has to take over indeni.
#9,#8 #10 I concur with you… I did not mean the government to wholly run the company. Oh no……. I was thinking of things like floating the shares at a bargain for Zambian individuals. Once Zambians own shares they may have more say in the managing of the company. For example there are so many people in diaspora who can invest in such a company ….If the Zambian embassies marketed shares to them.
#11 Mind the typo errors…..It is easy to blog etc but as they saying goes “talk is cheap” . The issue in the article above is pending . Zambian individuals with capital in diaspora need to make the crises an opportunity .
What is happening to this nation? even after 40yrs of indepence We can’t still run/ manage a simple asset like indeni properly, What of if it was a Nuclear reactor will lives be there in zambia. Year in year out it’s fuel crisis, We Can’t learn from the past SURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Total and Govt should already know the value of Indeni on their books. How could they ahve an asset yet not know what it’s worth?
the 5ps have to be acknowledged- perfect planning prevents poor performance Zambia is experiencing. Lets pull our socks people are watching