Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo disclosed earlier today that a decision was taken to scrap the shortlist of more than a dozen oil marketing companies and traders which had submitted bids during the elections fiasco to market Guyana’s share of crude from the Stabroek Block.
During a press conference that was held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, the official reminded that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) would have warned during the elections campaign period that anyone who sought to engage an illegal government would not be recognized as it would be unfair to those who exercised patience and respect for democracy and the rule of law. With this in mind, he said that the shortlist of 19 companies would not be considered while adding that the contract would be retendered soon.
In June last, the Guyana Standard had found that some of the world’s most corrupt traders had made it onto the shortlist that was put together by the Energy Department. They include Petrobras, Vitol, and Glencore Limited. Public documents show for example that Vitol and Glencore have used intermediaries to funnel over US$31 million in bribes to corrupt Petrobras employees in the past so that they may win big contracts, along with acquiring other benefits. This was reported on extensively in various sections of the media.
