Opposition Senator Wade Mark is demanding details on the proposed sale of Clico shareholding in Methanol Holdings (International) Ltd (MHIL) to the Proman Group.
At the UNC’s media briefing on Sunday, Mark called for details on the sale to Consolidated Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Switzerald-based Proman.
Mark claimed the lucrative assets were sold at an undervalued price and he also alleged the valuation of the shares was flawed.
“The valuations did not come to the Parliament. Somebody has to account. Where is this valuation report?”
He said there was no evidence the shares were sold at a premium price.
“If you had valuable interest in a valuable company you should get a premium price for your share. There is no evidence of that.”
He called on the Government and Clico to provide answers.
Mark also demanded certain documents be made public for the public to “better understand what took place with the 56.53 per cent shareholding.
Mark said MHIL – the methanol producer based in Oman – had a 25-year natural gas contract while methanol prices “went through the roof” after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“Yet, $2.6 billion went to $2.2 billion,” Mark said of the worth of the shares, alleging there was a “massive conspiracy” to undervalue the Clico shares.
On January 23rd, the Finance Minister revealed to the parliament that the Government owns 49 per cent of Clico’s shareholding while the liquidator of its parent company, CL Financial Ltd, owns the remaining 51 per cent.
Imbert stated then that: “The decision to dispose of the shares was the decision of the shareholders”. He said the job of the liquidator was to recover the $30 billion the Government used to bail out CL Financial in 2009.
Of that figure, Clico initially owed the Government $18 billion, but in December, had paid around $17 billion, leaving a little more than $1 billion still outstanding. He said Clico had been trying to dispose of the MHIL shares for about a decade to fulfil its obligation to repay the Government.