Sonelgaz: “Israeli-Made Equipment Was Imported By Mistake”

In an explanatory statement on Sunday, Sonelgaz admitted the importation of “made in Israel” equipment by mistake and confirmed that its services were handled in a timely manner, and filed a complaint and opened an investigation into the case, replacing the Israeli-made equipment with a European manufactured.

Sonelgaz directorate was quick to explain in a statement on Sunday, after the uproar that was raised by the oral question of the MP Ben Khallaf regarding the import of equipment from Israel, despite the boycott of Algeria for all dealings with the Zionist entity. 

The statement said that the deal concerns the establishment of a power station in “Boutelilis”, Oran (western Algeria), with a capacity of 450 megawatt, and the equipment was imported by CG General Electric and after inspection of equipment by the CEEG branch, it was found that the imported equipment included “valves” that are “Made in Israel”, and the customs authorities were informed of this mistake and they formally seized the goods on April,4, 2017.

In parallel, with the measures that were taken by the Customs Department in such cases, Sonelgaz summoned a bailiff, and he released a record on April, 19, 2017, and the manufacturer was summoned to provide explanations about the “Made in Israel” product, and he admitted his responsibility for the incident, and accordingly the product was returned and replaced with other goods that are made in Europe. 

Sonelgaz filed a complaint on April 19, 2017, against the company that imported the equipment,  on the charge of false authorization, since the file of the importation process indicates that the country of origin is France, then new goods were received on October 1, 2017, and Sonelgaz confirmed that it has taken all legal action in this case.

Sonelgaz response came after the MP Ben Khallaf revealed the case to public opinion in an oral question to the Energy Minister. He wondered how an Algerian company would normalize with Israel, asserting that the equipment was installed by the Algerian Company for Electricity and Gas Production and was received by ETTERKIB company, and it is currently located in one of the company’s branches in the municipality of Boutlilice, Oran (western Algeria).