National Bank of Algeria sells off a factory amid shady circumstances
The National Bank of Algeria has auctioned off the tomato cannery of the province of Skikda, eastern Algeria, very quickly and amid shady circumstances despite the compliance of its owner with the schedule of repayments agreed upon jointly with the regional bank of the province of Annaba, eastern Algeria, and the numerous appeals launched by the manager of the plant in the direction of both the Agriculture and finance ministries in a move to stop the transaction.
- Documents in the possession of “ Echourouk” revealed that the decision to sell the factory was made September 23, by the court of Ben Azzouz, Skikda, without a prior estimation of the value of this cannery by the experts.
- The 4 hectare plant was estimated at the symbolic price of 180 million Algerian Dinars, while the amount doesn’t even cover the bank’s debts estimated at 290 million Algerian Dinars.
- First elements included in the documents reveal that the bank could have auctioned off the factory with a much higher price and would recovered its money in full. Amazingly enough, the auction was carried out in the presence of one potential buyer on the D day.
- The factory’s manager has indicated that he had forcefully opposed the promptness with which his family’s business has been liquidated, noting that this operation was a severe blow to the Algerian president’s efforts to overhaul agriculture and more specifically the strategic sectors including Tomato, potato and cereals over years.
- The documents have revealed that the National bank of Algeria has forced the manager to stop the factory’s activities and throw the surplus in the sewage causing a financial loss estimated at 30 million Algerian Dinars.