Cervejas de Moçambique to pay more than €3 million in dividends
Voa (File photo)
Mozambique’s Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) says there is corruption in the import of liquid fuels, because, reports Voa, Mozambicans continuing to pay high prices for fuel despite the sharp fall in oil prices in the international market.
All liquid fuels in Mozambique are imported by Mozambican Petroleum Importer (Imopetro), which has benefited from state subsidies since 2011, when the price of a barrel of oil was around $120. A barrel now sells for below US$80.
A recent CIP study into the amount corruption costs the Mozambican economy identifies five areas where “glaring examples of corruption” involve amounts of over US$200 million each. One of these involves over-invoicing on imports of liquid fuels.
The government points to internal and external factors, including transportation costs and the exchange rate, as the reasons behind the continuing high cost of fuel.
The CIP economists say they do not understand the decision of Imopetro to add to the oil import bill the costs of extra maritime counter-piracy measures, which has resulted in tripling the cost of fuel, says CIP, cited by Voa.
According to the CIP, in 2014 Imopetro signed a fixed-price contract for fuel with an international supplier at what was found to be twice the market price, resulting in the bill being inflated by an additional US$300 million.
Voice of America said that Imopetro had failed to react the information in this article at the time of going to press.
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