The National Front to Save SAMIR on Tuesday called the Moroccan government to seek all legal remedies to annul the award of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which granted Corral Morocco Holding a compensation of only 150 million dollars, or less than 6% of the amount the Group demanded in the 2018 case.
“It is the main shareholder [not Rabat] that has failed to fulfill its contractual obligations,” the Front said, noting that the amount of the award “is not normal.”
Houcine El Yamani, the NGO Coordinator and a refinery staff delegate, said “Morocco should not release a single dirham to Corral Holding, as it is taxpayers’ money.”
Eight years after the judicial liquidation of Morocco’s sole oil refinery, strangled by estimated debts of four billion euros, the front is working to revive this former flagship of the Moroccan economy, while the commercial court is still struggling to find a buyer.
Morocco’s Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fettah had underlined that the North African country “is exploring all options, including filing for annulment before the ICSID.”
“Rabat continues to uphold its responsibilities and rights towards its partners and international bodies, fully respecting international and bilateral agreements,” the minister said.
Fattah stated that “Morocco still considers the refinery a strategic asset [and] a new project is being studied to give new life to the Samir site in Mohammedia,” Fettah added.
SAMIR went bankrupt in 2015 due to mismanagement and mounting debt that had reached $4 billion. Since its shutdown in 2016, the government has attempted to find a buyer to restart the oil finery. The facility’s closure negatively impacted the country’s fuel reserves, as it had a processing capacity of up to 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
The Front to Save SAMIR had proposed several solutions for restructuring the oil refinery, including independent management, capital increase through debt offsetting, transfer to a joint venture, and nationalization.