The decision to trade fuel revives the struggle of wealth and power again
English - Saturday 25 December 2021 الساعة 04:48 pm
Aden, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
On Friday, Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik issued Resolution No. (30) for the year 2021, which limited the purchase and distribution of oil derivatives through the State Oil Company in all governorates of the country.
The Prime Minister’s recent decision to prevent currency speculation in the fuel market, and to restore the institutional work of this government sector crucial to the recovery of the economy, comes 30 months after Resolution No. (49) of 2019, but he failed to implement it, fearing for his position.
Ahmed Al-Essi, who is close to Hadi, monopolizes fuel imports in the south of the country, and has failed previous government decisions regarding the cancellation of the liberalization of the fuel market. He also overthrew many traders who tried to import oil derivatives.
Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik fought a major struggle, accompanied by funded media defamation campaigns, with Ahmed Al-Essi over appointments, taxes, and the regulation of the fuel market. Al-Essi won all the battles, in exchange for Maeen retaining his position.
Jalal Hadi and Hadi's economic advisor, Ahmed Al-Essi, control the dictates of appointments to the position of Prime Minister and senior positions, which prompted Maeen Abdul Malik to surrender and freeze the fuel trade file.
The government of Maeen Abdul-Malik issued Resolution No. 49 of 2019 on June 26, 2019, canceling the decision to liberalize the oil derivatives market, and limiting the import of oil derivatives to the Aden Refineries Company, but the decision faltered due to its response by the influential.
The bill for importing oil derivatives, amounting to $200 million per month, at a rate of six and a half million riyals per day, is the main factor in the turmoil in the exchange rate market in the country, and the rise in the prices of goods and services.
It was reported that 21 businessmen affiliated with the Houthis established a good business relationship with Jalal Hadi as a result of obtaining permits to import fuel for Hodeidah through him.
It was added "Houthi fuel traders obtained these permits through intermediaries who brokered deals in Sanaa that were then signed in Riyadh.”
One of the employees of the oil company in Aden estimated the profits - the fuel trading mafia - in Yemen to be one billion dollars, annually, and it increases by half when oil prices drop globally.
And oil derivatives traders in Yemen control the economy, commercial activity, and appointments to the state’s administrative and military apparatus, at a time when the role of the legitimate government in the economy has declined, which is suffering from failure, weakness and corruption.
The distribution of fuel and oil products is one of the main sources of revenue for the Houthi militia, which canceled fuel subsidies on July 27, 2015, a year after its coup against the state, under the pretext of dropping the price dose of fuel and easing import restrictions.
Hadi’s government abandoned the collection of public resources, and left it scattered among the governorates under its control, and contented itself with printing currency to cover the salaries of employees, which caused the deterioration of the value of the riyal, raising inflation rates and sliding millions of residents below the poverty line.
Before 2015, the state controlled the oil, gas and fuel trade, provided most of the basic services for the population, and drove the activity of the private sector, including the transportation and contracting sector. The oil derivatives trade constituted one of the most important contributions of the government and public sector to the economy.
Since the Hadi government handed over the fuel trade to the private sector in March 2018, the country has witnessed a series of crises for oil derivatives during the past years, which have constituted strong shocks that have severely affected the economic and social conditions and the food and living security conditions of the population.
The domestic demand for fuel is estimated at 544,000 tons per month, but it has declined over the past years due to the downturn in economic and commercial activity in the country.
