Daily Independent Online.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2004.
ALSCON owes N966 million
By Chuks Isiwu
Energy
Editor,
Lagos
Aluminium Smelter
Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) owes N966 million to the Nigerian Gas Company
(NGC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that
handles natural gas distribution and sale.
The amount
represents the cost of gas procured by the company, based in Ikot Abasi, Akwa
Ibom State, from the NGC for its operation before it was sold to its new core
investors, BFIGroup Corporation, the American-based Nigerian capital resource,
investment and infrastructure development consortium, which offered $410
million for the plant.
Industry sources
said the debt formed part of the liability questions raised by one of the
potential investors, Rusal (Brastsk) Aluminium of Russia (RUSAL) that was
disqualified making a conditional bid.
RUSAL was said to have given a condition
that on winning the bid it should not be held responsible for ALSCON’s
undeclared liabilities.
Details of the
volume of gas involved in the N966 million debt are hazy, but sources said the
debt became known after the NGC management wrote to the National Council on
Privatisation (NCP) and the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) on the eve of
the sale to express worry about the debt. It sought clarification on how the
money will be recovered.
It is not clear
whether NGC has received such clarification, however, what is known is that
ALSCON is enmeshed in yet another crisis over the expected withdrawal today of
its interim managers, Ferrostaal.
The consultancy of
Ferrostaal that had been maintaining the plant in the transition to the
management of the core investors, lapses today, with industry watchers
expressing concern that the withdrawal in the absence of the core investors
could create a vacuum that would lead to ALSCON being shut down.
If that happens,
experts warned that it would cost the nation an average $1.2 million per month
to revive it.
An estimated $1.2 million is currently being spent monthly
by the Federal Government to maintain the smelter plant through Ferrostaal.
This is besides another N65 million spent monthly to maintain ALSCON’s
skeletal staff and their operations.
