Maputo — Some oil companies in Mozambique have been unable to import fuel in recent months due to their lack of money, according to the National Director of Hydrocarbons and Fuels, Moisés Paulino, cited by Thursday's issue of the independent newssheet "Carta de Moçambique.'
According to Paulino, "these companies are creating an embarrassment in the process of importing fuel into the country carried out by the Mozambican Importer of Petroleum Products (IMOPETRO). To avoid any possibility of running out of fuel, the government is already taking measures to make the business safe.'
Paulino explained that, due to their financial incapacity, some importers are accumulating large debts to the international supplier hired by IMOPETRO to import fuel on behalf of all the affiliated companies.
"The same companies are also running up debts to the government in terms of taxes, to the publicly-owned ports and rail company, CFM, and to the organisation that manages the ocean terminals where the fuel is unloaded. Due to their inability to honour financial commitments, some oil companies have liquid fuels held back in warehouses', he said.
Paulino acknowledged that the state's debt to the oil companies has contributed to the problems, but he claimed it is now being brought under control. Under the Stabilisation Fund, "the government has already paid half of the debt, which amounted to 300 million dollars, and not 450 million as the Confederation of Mozambican Economic Associations (CTA) said last March. This means that at the moment the state's debt to the companies is 150 million.'
He also admitted that the Bank of Mozambique's decision not to contribute to the fuel import bill, leaving everything to the commercial banks, contributed to the oil companies' financial incapacity.
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"The Bank of Mozambique made its analysis and came to the conclusion that it was not its role to contribute to the fuel import bill, so it stopped doing so', he said.
"As a result of the financial inability of some oil companies to honour their commitments, international suppliers already consider the Mozambican market to be unsafe', Paulino added. "There was a time when fuel import tenders in Mozambique were attractive to suppliers. At least 10 international companies competed at that time, but recently the number of competitors has dropped considerably'.
Therefore, he said, there is a need to review the contract documents, which contain the guidelines and references that must be respected during the execution of the service provided, in this case, the import of liquid fuels and distribution among the four ocean terminals located along the Mozambican coast.
For his part, the General Director of IMOPETRO, João Macanja, confirmed, without going into detail, that some clauses of the tender specifications are in fact being revised, which is delaying the opening of bids for the latest international public tender, launched on 4 August.
In the meantime, the National Directorate of Hydrocarbons and Fuels, IMOPETRO and the Mozambican Association of Fuel Companies (AMEPETROL) have guaranteed that the delay in contracting a new fuel supplier will not cause a fuel shortage, as the country is adequately supplied.
