Patrick Muyaya evokes discussions between the Congolese and American governments on sanctions against Dan Gertler

Patrick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and Media, announced during a weekly briefing held on Monday, October 10, that at this stage discussions are taking place between the Congolese and American governments on the Dan Gertler file. 

The objective would be to obtain the lifting of the American sanctions which weigh on Dan Gertler in order to benefit from the assets recovered in Congo, thanks to the agreement signed between the Congolese government and the Ventora group. 

The agreement signed between the Congolese government and the Ventora group of Dan Gertler contains the inclusion of a clause obliging the Congolese State to defend the agreement with the media, NGOs and the American administration in order to obtain the lifting of US sanctions targeted against Dan Gertler and his affiliated companies, according to the platform “Congo N’est Pas à Vendre” (CNPAV) which participated in the round table organized by the Presidency of the Republic. 

“Concerning the Dan Gertler file, options have been taken thanks to American sanctions to recover our assets and benefit our compatriots. The challenge for us today is to look at is it the agreement that has was done constitutes a means of circumventing the sanctions against Dan Gertler. The Congolese government is involved in several frameworks of discussions with the American government. And it is within this framework that we will address this subject. We want the Congolese to take full advantage of their assets,” said Patrick Muyaya, government spokesman.

For Congolese civil society, the estimate (approximate average value) of the assets recovered in this agreement is 2 billion US dollars, including 1.5 billion dollars for the Albertine Graben I and II oil blocks, 500 million dollars for the iron permits of Iron Mountain and Sanzeta. 

But it regrets that six (6) months have passed since the work of the Round Table organized, from April 13 to 14, 2022, by the Presidency of the Republic in Kinshasa on the restitution to civil society of the Agreement of amicable settlement signed between the Congolese State and the Ventora Group of the Israeli businessman Dan Gertler. 

Florimond Muteba, PCA of the Observatory of Public Expenditure “ODEP”, deplored the silence of the Presidency of the Republic on the evolution of the agreement signed between the DRC and the Ventora group. Five months later, the follow-up committee composed of members of civil society and the government, which should be set up, has not materialized. At this stage, the civil society that participated in this round table has no control over the development of this agreement. 

It should be noted that the memorandum of understanding for the amicable settlement signed on February 24 between the Congolese State and Dan Gertler’s Ventora group has not yet been made public. Only members of a few civil society organizations have had access to this agreement, which contains confidentiality clauses.