Government paying off its debt to fuel companies

Maputo, 30 May (AIM) – The Mozambican government has started to pay off the debt owed by the state to the companies responsible for importing and distributing liquid fuels.

According to the General Manager in Mozambique of the Swiss multinational Puma Energy, Danilo Coreia, who made the announcement, on Wednesday, at a Maputo press conference, during the presentation of a report on energy security and infrastructure development, the government is paying off the debt accumulated with the fuel importers and distributors.

“A very large debt had arisen, and it worsened in March 2021, due to the effects of the Russian war against Ukraine. The government has taken measures to reduce the debt and, the debt to Puma has dropped from 50 million US dollars to 14 million”, he said.

The state’s debt to the companies responsible for distributing fuel reached unsustainable levels when a major crisis in the sector erupted because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

According to data provided by the Mozambican Confederation of Business Associations (CTA), in April 2022 the debt reached 120 million dollars, and a year later it had doubled. Coreia explained that if the debt repayments continue as they are and without a rise in the price of oil on the international market, the debt could be completely paid off in the short term. But he did not say exactly when this might be.

“We think that if there are no big rises in the international price, in the next three or four months the debt will resolved. This shows a great deal of collaboration between the government and the companies over the last few months and we are very satisfied with the process”, he said.

Coreia believes that the current process of debt repayment by the state is not only taking place at Puma Energy, but at the other fuel companies.

According to the Mozambican Association of Fuel Companies, the crisis affected at least 15 companies out of 30 affiliates.

(AIM)

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