Bouchouareb: “Peugeot Will Continue Working, No Negotiations On The Conditions For France”

Negotiations with Peugeot Algeria factory are ongoing, as all the shareholders met last week at the headquarters of the ministry, in order to decide about the file, Industry and Mines Minister, Abdessalam Bouchouareb, said.

“A new file will be announced in a timely manner. Each party is looking for its interests, and what matters for Algeria is the completion of the plant according to the Algerian conditions, without concessions to France.”

Bouchouareb replies to Echorouk question that the negotiations are continuing between all parties which met a week ago, adding that the French party is looking for its own benefit, but Algeria will be tough in the negotiations and will not allow any excesses in this regard.

He commented on the sidelines of the signing of two agreements, on Tuesday, between GEKA cement factory and the Chinese trader “CBME”, that there is no a relationship between the negotiations of Peugeot Algeria factory and the firing of the French Peugeot factory workers.

He responded to the car concessionaires who criticized the book of conditions, which they consider as the cause of their bankruptcy and firing the workers, that he do not take responsibility for it, and the book of conditions has nothing to do with what is happening in the market, and that the government must purge the sector and organize it, after the big mess which it noticed.

Bouchouareb totally refuted the possibility that was raised by his colleague in the government, Bakhti Belaiab, when he talked about the possibility of a license for cars’ import that are used for 3 years, asking, “How can we freeze the import of new cars to import old ones, this is contradictory and unreasonable”, adding that his ministry will not allow it under any circumstances.

The minister expresses optimism about the projects of cement in Algeria, saying that the government will achieve self-sufficiency in the end of the current year, to prevent the import by the beginning of next January, and will begin later in the export to abroad.

“Bechar factory (southern Algeria) in partnership between the GEKA and the Chinese will raise production by 6 million tonnes, and other projects, like expanding the Zahana factory in Mascara (western Algeria), which signed agreements on Thursday with the Chinese company “CBME”. Chinese need to accelerate the delivery of their projects, and need to invest in the field of iron as well. Partnership between the two parties is forged after the state visit by the Prime Minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, to China last year’.