Dan Gertler: a first step towards ending the plunder of natural resources in the DRC, but too early to declare victory!

February 19, 2022 – A Congolese commission has initiated negotiations with Dan Gertler on the recovery of mining and oil assets. The Congo is not for sale coalition welcomes this first step but calls on the government to ensure that the agreement covers all ill-gotten gains and calls for the process and results of the negotiations to be made more transparent.

According to the report of the Council of Ministers of February 18, a commission “concluded with the Fleurette group [of Dan Gertler] the terms of reference of a memorandum of understanding to allow our country to recover the oil blocks and the assets mines held by Fleurette valued at more than 2 billion usd, as well as a substantial part of royalties from KCC which have been ceded to it.

If the negotiations lead to the effective and free recovery of all the assets held by Mr. Gertler’s network, then it will be a triumph for civil society and the fight against corruption, the coalition “The Congo is Not for Sale” (CNPAV).

But the press release leaves too many gray areas to claim final victory at this stage. “For years, we have been proclaiming loud and clear that the Congo has already lost several billion because of the agreements with Dan Gertler and that these losses are getting worse as long as nothing is done”, declared Jean-Claude Mputu, door- word of CNPAV. “This announcement is a first step in the right direction, but there are still several crucial aspects to be clarified: the constitution of the commission, the content of the memorandum of understanding and the amicable settlement, the final destination of the recovered goods. Thus, there is still a long way to go for the Congo to recover all the assets ill-gotten by Dan Gertler with the complicity of ex-President Kabila.”

As a reminder, Dan Gertler is an Israeli billionaire sanctioned in 2017 by the US Treasury for corruption at the top of the Congolese state. According to the Treasury, he had enriched himself through “opaque and corrupt” extractive contracts using “his close friendship with Congolese President Joseph Kabila. Between the end of 2017 and 2021, OFAC sanctioned not only Dan Gertler itself, but also two of its collaborators as well as 45 other entities affiliated with Gertler.

According to calculations by the Congo is not for sale coalition, the DRC has already lost almost $2 billion in revenue due to dodgy contracts with Gertler between 2003 and 2020.

Despite President Tshisekedi’s accession to power, his companies continue to earn more than $200,000 a day from these old contracts. If nothing is done, an additional $1.76 billion could escape state coffers between 2021 and 2039.

“We are concerned that the negotiations only cover part of what Dan Gertler obtained illegally under the Kabila regime,” said Jean-Pierre Okenda, researcher at Resource Matters and member of CNPAV. “Today, Gertler receives royalties from three mining projects: KCC, Mutanda Mining and Metalkol. Why does the commission only deal with royalties from KCC? What about Mutanda? Metalkol? Of all the other losses suffered in the past? It must be ensured that the agreement does not jeopardize the investigations opened in several countries which would make it possible to shed full light on possible corrupt practices in which he would have been involved.

This decision falls first to all those who have raised their voices to denounce the misdeeds of Gertler.

Among them, two Congolese bankers, Gradi Koko and Navy Malela, who had the courage to launch the alert in 2020 to denounce the existence of a money laundering network within their bank which would have been used by Gertler to circumvent US sanctions. Faced with threats, they had to leave the DRC and then, in retaliation, they were sentenced to death in

congo. The CNPAV expects that this withdrawal of Gertler will lead to the cancellation of this death sentence.

The coalition also calls for reassuring public opinion that this agreement is not just a means for political leaders to raise funds before the 2023 elections. Indeed, the approach of electoral cycles, the risk of misappropriation of mining revenues increases considerably. If the government decides to resell the assets again, it must imperatively do so by tender as required by law, and the destination of the funds must be known to all.

“The government must make public all the parameters of this negotiation, both in terms of procedure and results,’” according to Freddy Kasongo, director of OEARSE and member of CNPAV.

“We must ensure that only the Congolese people are the beneficiaries of these steps.

Note to editors:

Dan Gertler has repeatedly denied allegations against him, including being involved in

corruption cases alleged by the US government or having deprived the DRC of revenue.

To our knowledge, without being exhaustive, Dan Gertler’s network currently holds the assets

following mines:

Oil

– Oil Blocks I and II of the Albertine Graben

Copper-cobalt sector

-Royalties in the Kamoto Copper Company project, estimated at $1.085 billion

-Royalties in the Mutanda Mining project, estimated at $380 million

-Royalties in the Metalkol project, estimated at $299 million

Gold sector

– Operating permits held by the Moku-Beverendi mining company (PE5047, PE5057, PE12709, PE12710, PE12711, PE12712)

-Research permit held by Sanzetta Investments (PR7500-PR7515)

Iron sector: Research permit held by the mining company Iron Mountain (PR4977-PR4979 and PR4990-PR5022)

Gertler is also accused by several NGOs and media of having used nominees to continue to acquire mining assets since the sanctions, particularly in the highly prized copper-cobalt sector in the 6 months preceding the elections at the end of 2018. One of them would be the unknown businessman Ellie Berros, who today holds stakes in high-value mining contracts, namely the one between Gécamines and the company Evelyne Investissement. This contract is the subject of an investigation by the Congolese authorities.