A confrontation has emerged between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and caretaker Minister of Energy Walid Fayyad, stemming from a disagreement over the mechanism to be adopted for securing the funds required from the Central Bank of Lebanon to pay for the cargo of the two "gas oil" tankers currently docked in Lebanese territorial waters on behalf of the Ministry of Energy, and subsequently to Electricité du Liban to increase supply hours during the Christmas and New Year holidays with the initial unloading of this cargo, which exceeds 60 thousand tons.
As of last night, consultations were ongoing between Prime Minister Mikati, through the Secretary-General of the Presidency of the Government, Judge Mahmoud Makiyeh, and his advisory team, and the Minister of Energy alongside officials from Electricité du Liban, to rectify the transactions sent by the Ministry of Energy to the Central Bank of Lebanon in order to finalize the necessary financial arrangements to secure the reservation of funds amounting to 60 million dollars as an initial payment to fund the energy program.
Government sources told "Al-Joumhouria" that officials from the Central Bank and the presidency of the government have objected to the administrative mechanism adopted by the Ministry of Energy to secure the necessary funds from the bank's accounts and provide the guarantees that ensure the return of the financial advance in light of an unprecedented shortage of fresh dollars.
These sources indicated that the Minister of Energy is required to submit the request in a manner that is legally permissible to facilitate the financial operation as it should be, and that ongoing communications are expected to correct the procedures without specifying any deadline for resolving the issue, even late into the night yesterday.
