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Libya oil units halt operations due to spread of virus

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Two affiliates of Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) have suspended some work because of the spread of the coronavirus, they said in statements posted online on Monday.

The country’s biggest refinery, Zawiya, located west of Tripoli, said it had closed its offices from Sept. 8-17, reducing staffing by 10% and placing them on “emergency leave”.

In eastern Libya, AGOCO said it had suspended “all work and activities for 30 days to protect oil workers from the pandemic”, except for operations relating to industrial safety and security.

The pandemic has surged in Libya over the past month, with over 1,000 cases confirmed on Monday bringing the total to more than 18,000 according to official figures.

Neither of the two oil companies that said they were suspending work on Monday announced any infections among their staff and said the measures were precautionary.

Libya’s oil output has already been almost entirely halted this year by a blockade on exports since January by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) of Khalifa Haftar.

Output has fallen from 1.2 million barrels per day before the blockade to less than 100,000 bpd now, which is mostly used for domestic consumption.

Morocco hosting talks between Libyan rivals

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Delegates from Libya’s rival administrations have met for talks in Morocco, more than two weeks after the two sides announced a surprise ceasefire.

The meeting on Sunday, held at the initiative of Morocco which hosted peace talks in 2015 that led to the creation of a United Nations-recognised government for Libya, kicked off in the coastal town of Bouznika, south of Rabat.

Dubbed “Libyan Dialogue”, the talks brought together five members of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and five from a self-styled parliament headquartered in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.

“The kingdom is ready to provide Libyans with a space to discuss (issues), according to their will, and will applaud them regardless of the outcome,” Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said.

“Morocco has no agenda or initiative to submit” to the two sides, Bourita added.

A solution to Libya’s crisis must be decided by the Libyans themselves under the auspices of the UN, he said, before delegates met behind closed doors.

Workers of Afriqiyah Airways hold a protest

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Workers of Afriqiyah Airways in Tripoli have held a protest outside Wahda Bank to demand their unpaid salaries.

The workers said in a statement that they have not received their salaries for months due to the freezing of the company’s financial assets and bank account by the judicial authorities.

They expressed their surprise over the decision of the management of Wahda Bank to transfer some funds from the company’s account to other parties in the legal dispute over the control of the company, considering this is as illegal.

Libya records highest daily coronavirus infection

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Libya’s National Center for Disease Control announced it had found 1,085 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily infection rate so far.

In a statement, the center said it also recorded 11 deaths and 81 recoveries in the last 24 hours.

The total count of cases in the North African country reached 18,834, including 296 deaths and 2,162 recoveries.

Libya, Turkey sign cooperation protocol

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Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and Turkey have signed an economy, technology cooperation protocol.

Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank and Libyan Central Bank Governor Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) Chairman Ali Mahmoud signed in a meeting in Istanbul the protocol as Varank said that both countries face many threats in economic, political and military fields.

“We are fighting beside Libya against some of these common threats. It is possible to place our efforts on a more solid basis by further increasing cooperation in every field.” Turkish Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said.

Both countries will undertake joint projects in the fields of investments, entrepreneurship and technology development, as per the new protocol.

He also emphasized that the two countries are set to take steps toward cooperation in establishing venture capital funds in the coming days or “investing in funds in our country, especially to support technology-oriented initiatives.”

Libya: Ministry of Finance Suspends 17,000 State Sector Salaries

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Libya’s Tripoli-based Ministry of Finance confirmed yesterday that it has suspended 17,000 state-sector salaries as of the 1 September.

The Ministry confirmed that its salary payment system has been linked to the Civil Registry Authority and the National ID Number systems to address the imbalances contained in salary payments.

The Ministry discovered that state-sector salaries were being paid off to deceased 6,915 employees who had not reported as dead and their salaries were still being transferred to their employers.

The Ministry said that its action is in accordance with existing laws and part of their fight against corruption. It added that discovered cases of fraud would be referred to the competent regulators for further action.

The World Bank: “Risks in Libya are High”

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The world Bank issued a detailed report stressing that the Libyan economy has recently been hit by four overlapping shocks: an intensifying conflict that suffocates economic activity, the closure of oil fields that puts the country’s major income-generating activity largely on hold, decreasing oil prices that reduce income from oil production in surviving fields, and the COVID-19 pandemic which threatens to further suppress the economy.

According to the report that has been issued before lifting the oil blockade, the attack on Tripoli in early 2019 and the blockade of the country’s major oil ports and terminals in January 2020 generated the most serious political, economic, and humanitarian crisis faced by Libya since 2011.

“The economic impact was already felt in 2019 as real GDP growth slowed sharply to 2.5 percent, down from what seemed a promising steady recovery during 2017–18, with a record growth performance of 20.8 percent on average. Worse yet, Libya is expected to suffer from a deep recession in 2020.” The World Bank stated.

At the same time, after many years of high inflation, prices started to recede in 2019 because of falling parallel market exchange rate premia driven by concomitant actions by the government and the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), establishing a fee on hard currency transactions (183 %) while easing access to foreign exchange (forex).

The report noted that the Libyan dinar (LD) continues to suffer in the parallel market because of political uncertainties and macroeconomic instability. In the first two quarters of 2020, the LD in the parallel market lost 54 percent of its value, following the forex restrictions implemented by the CBL with increasing uncertainty surrounding the macroeconomic framework

” The adopted budget for 2020 partially reflects this dire situation, with a large forecasted deficit, the highest in recent years. Likewise, the current account is expected to run astronomic deficits in 2020–21. Consequently, reserves will be further declining this year. ” the report added.

NOC condemns dangerous military activity in Ras Lanuf port area

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The National Oil Corporation (NOC) renewed its call for immediate and unconditional demilitarisation of all oil facilities after military personnel fired live rounds and heavy weapons in Ras Lanuf port.

The NOC said that the presence of forces including mercenaries who lack any kind of discipline are a true threat to NOC workers and facilities all over Libya.

” Mohamed Bey, a Comoros-registered vessel, was scheduled to enter the commercial section of Ras Lanuf port at 1100 hours on Friday 4 September 2020 to load scrap. However, a group of armed men under the command of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) – including foreign mercenaries – forced the ship into port at 2 am this morning. They intimidated the crew of the Mohamed Bey by firing live rounds and RPG shells in an area where dangerous and highly flammable materials are stored.” The NOC said.

Bashagha emphasises the cohesion of the security services

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The Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha emphasized the cohesion of the security services, the integration of state institutions, and that the security and military agencies work under the leadership of the Presidential Council in coordination with each other.

On Thursday, after the investigation session, Bashagha said that my compliance with the administrative investigation according to Presidential Council Resolution 562 of 2020 ″ confirms the work of the Minister of Interior under the legitimacy of the Presidential Council, respect for the state’s hierarchy and the discipline of its institutions under the rule of law.

Bashagha added that during the session, it was stressed the continuation of the program of integration and rehabilitation of the security and military forces in order to enable them to perform their role entrusted to them, and the emphasis on the commitment of state institutions to exercise the functions assigned to them in accordance with Libyan legislation and the integration between them in meeting the needs of the citizens.

Bashagha explained that the session lasted for more than five hours and twenty minutes, with the participation of members of the Presidential Council and the Minister of Interior, without the presence of any other parties, and that the questions mainly revolved around the recent demonstrations, their security and penetration, and the role of the Interior Ministry and the various security agencies of the state in securing them.

Libya’s state GECOL announces total blackout

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Libya’s state General Electricity Company of Libya (GECOL) announced on Friday a total electricity blackout for the country’s southern and central regions.

In a statement, GECOL promised to provide an explanation for them, but until earlier today, non was forthcoming.

In the same vein, the hours of power outages have increased in Ajdabiya city reaching six hours per day.

The director of the Medium Voltage Office of the General Electricity Company, Jumaa Al-Huni, said that the outages are caused by fuel and gas shortages.

He explained that the company is working to maintain power supply by implementing a load shedding program to avoid complete darkness.

He added that the hours of power outages would be reduced upon the arrival of gas and fuel supplies to the city’s power plant.