The State-owned Port Authority of Béjaïa (EPB) has just acquired a cement storage and packaging unit in the port of Béjaïa, as part of the transfer to the public sector of the assets of the former rogue oligarchs who were finally sentenced by the courts.
The protocol for handing over the “keys” to this equipment was signed last Thursday in the presence of the wilaya secretary general, representing the wali of Béjaïa, the director of estates, and the administrator, representing the general management of the port authority.
According to the local authorities, the recovery of this property is part of the fight against corruption, and in application of the latest conclusions of the council of state holdings concerning the handover of seized assets to the public sector, by virtue of final judgments.
The silos, covering an area of 5,225 m² and belonging to ETRHB Haddad, were used to store and package imported cement, which was sold mainly on the domestic market after bagging.
In contrast to the former oligarch, the people in charge of the Port of Béjaïa are determined to “turn things around, thanks to the new vision and economic strategy adopted by the public authorities”, by turning this asset into a base for “the export of Algerian finished products (cement) to countries all over the world”, attests a port authority manager.
Once renovated, this equipment will help “through the new dynamic injected into the national economy, to increase the country's export capacities, particularly in the cement sector”, according to the company's ambition.
As a reminder, the confiscation of ETRHB Haddad's assets was ordered on July 1, 2020 by the Sidi M'hamed court as part of the trial of the oligarchs. On the same day, in the wilaya of Annaba, another ETRHB Haddad asset was handed over to the general management of Sider El Hadjar for exploitation. This is a rolling mill, with a production capacity of 800,000 tones/year, which will be the property of the plant, much to the delight of the 6,000 steelworkers.
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