Agreement between the Congolese State and Ventora group allows the DRC to circumvent the long legal process with an uncertain outcome”
The National Movement of Affected Consumers (MNCL) gave its opinion, this Monday, May 09, after having participated in the round table organized by the Presidency of the Republic around the agreement signed between the Ventora group of Dan Gertler and the DRC, relating to the return of oil and mining assets.
Led by Joël Lamika, this civil society platform, an activist for the socio-economic rights of Congolese men and women, finds that this agreement brings significant advantages in favor of the DRC.
“From our research and investigations, it emerges that this agreement is not totally unbalanced but on the other hand it allows the DRC to circumvent the long legal process with an uncertain outcome”, says the MNCL.
To be convinced of this, the MNCL draws up a non-exhaustive list of favorable elements for the Congolese State through this agreement.
First, the MNCL specifies that Gécamines will now benefit from the factory and the deposits of SOMIDEZ (DEZIWA) returned by the Ventora Group, the current value of which is estimated at 3 billion US dollars, according to international experts…
Secondly, the MNCL refers to the recovery of oil and mining assets held by the Ventora Group, royalties in three mining companies including: Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), METALKO and Mutanda Mining (MUMI) as well as all the studies carried out by the international experts who value said assets. According to the explanations of the experts of this platform, the determination of the net present value (NPV) of the royalties of the Ventora Group of approximately 154 million US dollars.
In addition, the MNCL informs that nowadays the estimate of (approximate average value) of the recovered assets is 2 billion US dollars including 1.5 billion dollars for the oil blocks I and II of the Graben Albertine, 500 million dollars for the iron permits of Iron Mountain and Sanzeta, 500 million dollars for the gold permits of Moku Gold and several hundred million US dollars for various payments that the Ventora Group will make in favor of Gécamines on royalties from KCC.
Recommendations to the government
The MNCL made some recommendations to the government, namely:
– The handing over to the Ministry of Mines of the assets recovered from the Ventora Group via the Mining Cadastre. And to the Ministry of Hydrocarbons for treatment in accordance with the law.
– Strict compliance with the laws on public procurement procedures on public-private partnerships (PPP). The Congo must stop being this economic jungle where international firms can come, loot “legally” and leave “peacefully”.
– The setting up of a regulatory mechanism for the remuneration of gains to negotiators as is applicable for advisers in the financial departments, for Inspectors of the General Inspectorate of Finance and at the international level (a percentage of the percentage predefined by the regulatory texts).
– The establishment of an inclusive and plural Monitoring Committee, responsible in particular – for monitoring the execution of the Agreement signed between the Government and the Ventora Group; The effective establishment of an interactive framework between civil society and the Presidency of the Republic.
