Spanish Companies Demanding EUR 1.7 Billion Compensation From Government
Spanish companies that had trade relations with Algeria asked their country’s government to compensate them for losses estimated at more than 1.7 billion euros, as a result of causing an almost complete cessation of their exports, following a shift in the position of Pedro Sanchez regarding the Western Sahara issue and his bias toward Morocco’s Makhzen regime.
New data published by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, checked out by Echorouk, indicates that between June 2022 and June 2023, that is, 13 months after the economic rift between Algeria and Spain against the backdrop of a shift in the position of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in favour of the Makhzenist approach in the Western Sahara issue, and the Spanish companies exported only 271.3 million euros to Algeria, compared to 1.748 billion euros during the same period of 2022, representing a decline of 87%.
The specialized economic website “The Objective” reported that Spanish companies affected by the trade rupture with Algeria are demanding compensation amounting to 1.748 billion euros from the government, describing the situation of the institutions that stopped exporting to Algeria as “hopeless” 13 months after the beginning of the crisis, especially after the statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Attaf, a few days ago, in which he ruled out any imminent change in relations with Spain at the political, diplomatic and economic levels.
According to the same website, the Office of Consulting “Intermodal Forwarding” conducted a study last March, which showed that more than 600 Spanish companies were directly affected by the economic crisis with Algeria, after the sudden reversal in the position of the Prime Minister of Madrid regarding the conflict in Western Sahara, indicating that the aid promised by the Madrid government is arriving slowly, pushing many companies directly towards bankruptcy.
In contrast, Algerian exports continued to flow to Spain, including gas, oil and petroleum derivatives, which are necessary for the economy of this European country.
Data from the Spanish energy reserves management and monitoring corporation, CORES, indicated that Sonatrach is still among the first suppliers of gas to Spain (natural and liquefied gas), as well as other quantities of crude oil.
In addition to this, the profits earned by Sonatrach from the Medgaz transportation facility, which achieved record profits in 2022, amounting to 135.9 million euros, of which about 70 million euros belong to the National Gas Company, and 66 million to the Spanish company “Naturgy” and its partner Australian Share Fund “BlackRock”.
For reference, the National Company’s profits from gas distribution operations in the Spanish internal market amounted, in 2021, to about 50 million euros, given that it holds shares estimated at 4.4% of the company “Naturgy” (formerly Gas Natural Fenosa).