Sonatrach managers sealed contract with British company sued in US

The trial proceedings of the five managers of the Algerian Hydrocarbons Company “Sonatrach” in the province of Oran, western Algeria, who were involved in the scandal of the rubber pipes have shed light yesterday on new developments.

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• The British company “ Tribor” with which the managers have sealed a contract for the supply of the port of Arzew with pipes was sued in the United States and charged with corruption. The public prosecutor has found out that the company was involved in various malpractices and fined $ 100 billions.
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• For his part, the General Manager of the company in charge of the management of the port Mokdad Nabil, who is one of the convicts, has yesterday argued the choice of this company, despite its legal problems in the US, by the technical features of this one in comparison with the other companies.
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• The technical committee in charge of the study of the tenders has eliminated two other companies including the Italian “ Manilli” and an Algerian one for not fulfilling the requirements.
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• The General manger has indicated that his company was obliged to seal the 21 million Euros contract by a mutual agreement with the British company at the end of 2007 on account of the emergency nature of the operation. He added that he received a report from the technical committee stating that the pipes were worn out and must be changed immediately to avoid an ecological catastrophe in case of explosion.
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• The convict has declared to the public prosecutor that the situation reminded him of the recent catastrophe of the Gulf of Mexico that cost the US $ 100 billions of damage. Despite this argument, the public prosecutor was not convinced by the explanation asking about the reasons behind the decision to select the British company for this operation after 17 months of the call for tender.
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