Angolan State loses almost USD 24 billion - President

 The Angolan State may have lost in recent years, with the policy of squandering the treasury, "nearly 24 billion US dollars (USD)," as the President of the Republic, João Lourenço noted.

According to the Angolan head of state, who was speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, to which Angop had access today, Sunday, this is the constant value of the asset investigation processes underway at the National Asset Recovery Service of the Attorney General's Office (PGR).

João Lourenço, whose first part of the interview for the US newspaper has just been published, said that of that sum 13.515 million had been illegally withdrawn through fraudulent contracts with the oil company Sonangol (Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola), 5 billion through Sociedade de Comercialização de Diamantes de Angola (Sodiam) and Empresa Nacional de Diamantes de Angola (Endiama) and the remaining 5 billion through other sectors and public companies.

In relation to specific figures on the fight against corruption and its results, the President said in his extensive interview that USD 4.2 billion was the amount to date, of properties seized or confiscated in the country.

This includes assets such as factories, supermarkets, buildings, residential real estate, hotels, holdings in financial institutions and various profitable companies, as well as electricity supplies and other assets.

The President of the Republic also revealed that the National Asset Recovery Service of the PGR had asked its counterparts outside the country to seize or confiscate assets and money worth USD 5.4 billion, namely in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Monaco and the United Kingdom, "a list that is tending to expand".

In the interview, the head of state said that the Angolan state had recovered USD 2.7 billion in cash and USD 2.1 billion in real estate, factories, port terminals, TV and radio stations, in Angola, Portugal and Brazil.

Also on the economic front, the main focus of this major interview with journalist Benoit Faucon, Joao Lourenço said he expected Sonangol to be listed on stock exchanges such as New York, London or China soon after its restructuring.

In another area of the interview, the President of the Republic admitted that Covid-19 had even imposed, in Angola, a reduction of up to 50% in the presence of workers in factory units, and had limited the mobility of people and goods between different points of Angolan territory, for a period of more than half a year.

This fact, the Angolan head of state said, had a negative impact on the diversification of the economy, as, "in fact, happened with most countries.

Meanwhile, the interview also addressed several other issues, such as the challenge of improving the business environment in Angola and the interest of major oil operators in Angola's off shore.

These and many other issues will be addressed by the Wall Street Journal in future issues.