The Oil and Gas Ministry of the National Unity Government confirmed in a statement on Sunday, that its efforts contributed to depositing an amount of 10 billion and 600 million dinars to the state accounts that were owed by foreign companies, and the National Oil Corporation delayed its payment in violation of the law.
The ministry said in its statement that it had followed up the Libyan state’s financial entitlements of foreign oil companies, which are in the form of taxes, rents and fees, and found out that the National Oil Corporation had taken measures that violated the law and asked these companies to postpone the process of paying the Libyan state’s fees since October of the year 2020, which made the Libyan people deprived of benefiting from this money.
It added that It addressed all the concerned authorities to notify it of this violation, stressing that it represents gross negligence and complicity in the preservation and maintenance of public money and damage to the state’s economy. The security and supervisory authorities and the Public Prosecutor began their investigations and took the necessary procedures, as a result of which these funds reached the Libyan state treasuries.
In its statement, the ministry indicated that foreign companies did not adhere to the correct law and sided with the implementation of instructions issued to them by the National Oil Corporation to postpone payment in violation of the law, and called on all foreign investors in the Libyan oil sector to support compliance with any procedures or measures that violate the law in a way that harms the interests of the Libyan state in order to avoid to legal accountability.
At the conclusion of its statement, the Oil and Gas Ministry stressed that it will continue its work in « exposing all acts of corruption and fighting its supporters, and tracking those responsible for these violations and misleading public opinion, after the criminal acts committed against the wealth of the Libyan people were revealed until who did them appear before the judiciary ».
