Report: Power Vessels Deal with Turkish Company in Tatters

A deal struck with a Turkish company to provide power-generating vessels to Lebanon is under the threat of collapse over differences between members of a ministerial committee and the firm, As Safir daily reported Friday.

The negotiations with Karadeniz are ongoing but could lead to the end of the agreement that the ministerial committee led by Prime Minister Najib Miqati had struck with the firm, threatening the collapse of the entire process of leasing the vessels, As Safir quoted informed sources as saying.

Members of a technical sub-committee told the newspaper that the firm has asked for a first payment which amounts to 25 percent of the leasing cost. The ministerial committee approved the request but Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi conditioned it to bank guarantees, they said.

Other differences lie in the request of Karadeniz representatives to grant the firm full tax exemptions, open up to one-year credits for it and include an article in the deal stressing that the company would benefit from inflation.

The sources warned that the negotiations with the firm could not end any time soon and expressed fear that the obstacles would lead to the full collapse of the leasing of the ships that are aimed at salvaging Lebanon during the scorching heat of the summer season.

But the sources appeased fears, saying if the contracts were signed in the coming weeks, the first ship would reach Lebanon in June and not within four months as Karadeniz has conditioned.

The ministerial committee agreed earlier this month to lease the vessels after the firm slashed the original price by 9 percent and reduced the leasing period to two years.

The two Turkish ships will have a capacity of 270 megawatts and are aimed at compensating the electricity shortage that would be caused by the rehabilitation of the Jiyyeh and Zouk power plants and allowing the government to build one or two new plants to resolve Lebanon’s lingering electricity crisis.