The scandal of embezzlement of 2000 billion centimes for grain silos before the courts

The two former directors and 11 executives of the National Professional Grain Office will appear next Wednesday, July 24th, before the Economic and Financial Criminal Court of Sidi M’hamed, for cases of corruption related to the conclusion of consensual contracts for the construction of silos to store grain, costing the treasury more than 2,000 billion centimes.
The case, in which the former director of the National Professional Grain Office, “B.A.”, and his successor in the same position, “B.M.”, as well as the financial director of the same office, “K”, and the sub-directors and a number of office executives, was investigated. The investigation was carried out by the Investigation Department of the Regional Group of the Algerian Gendarmerie. It revealed disastrous facts in the management of the National Office of Professional Grains.
In this regard, the investigations revealed the conclusion of consensual contracts (gray-grey) for the construction of grain warehouses by the company “Batmetal”, affiliated to the “Emetal” complex, in partnership with the foreign company “BORGO”, which cost the treasury more than 2,000 billion centimes, while waiting for what will be revealed by the trial.
The details of the current case go back to the year 2011, when the former Minister of Transport and Public Works, the late Boudjemaa Talai, in his capacity as General Manager of the company “Batimetal”, asked the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development at that time to win a contract for the construction of grain warehouses for the benefit of the National Professional Office for Grains, at the national level in partnership with the Italian company “Borgo”.
Although another company won the contract, it was withdrawn and awarded by mutual agreement, without reference to the Public Procurement Law, in favor of the company “Batimetal”, which brought in the Italian partner “Borgo”, as investigations later confirmed that it did not meet the required conditions and that The deal devoured more than 2,000 billion centimes and exposed the extent of negligence in the processing and follow-up of aspects of the expenditure of public funds in the National Professional Grains Office.
Investigations also revealed negligence in the follow-up of warehouse construction projects due to the lack of respect for standards and conditions in the completion process, such as the absence of metal frames at the level of nodal areas or connecting areas, in addition to the lack of spaces between warehouses, in addition to the lack of use of reinforced materials, especially with regard to reinforced concrete and anti-corrosion paint, which threatens some of these warehouses to collapse at a later time.
More dangerously, there are many grain silos that have not been delivered to date, which led the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, to take the decision to transfer grain silo projects to the governors of the Republic, which will contribute to increasing transparency in this field and to achieving self-sufficiency in grains and ensuring sustainable food security, All the more so as the Algerian authorities are keen to implement a precise and clearly defined strategy to achieve food security for Algerians and to put the country on the road to security by ensuring its food security, which is the backbone of preserving national sovereignty and protecting national security, By adopting a series of measures, in particular the launch of a national program to expand grain storage capacity, especially in states with large production, to increase the national reserve of this strategic material.
The trial on July 24 will reveal catastrophic facts about the manipulation of the food security of the country and its people, using the trick of “consent” to build silos, some of which have not yet been completed, which led the investigating judge of the Economic and Financial Crimes Court in Sidi M’hamed to bring serious charges against the defendants in the file included in the Anti-Corruption and Prevention of Corruption Law 01/06, which consists of granting privileges to others by concluding an agreement or contract by mutual consent, squandering public funds and illicitly exploiting one’s position.