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TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Payments problems, chaos and corruption are hampering
Libyan importers from making big deals to buy wheat, another setback as the
country spins out of control two years after dictator Muammar Gaddafi was
toppled by rebels and NATO warplanes.
In the latest disruption, the biggest wheat importer Mahatan Tripoli, which
supplies most of the capital's bread, says it may have to put off its next major
wheat purchase unless the state starts paying it nearly $100 million owed for
previous imports.
For months, rogue militia members have disrupted Libya's oil exports, the
main source of funding for a state that feeds its six million people with
subsidised bread handed out for as little as 2 U.S. cents a loaf.
There are no signs of food shortages - quite the opposite: bread is still
plentiful and cheap. But global grain traders say big Libyan buyers are now
having difficulty arranging import deals. Exporters abroad are worried about
being paid on time, and about the additional risks of unloading ships in chaotic
ports where armed militia members run rampant.
The chairman of Matahan Tripoli, which buys wheat on international markets
and sells flour and other processed foods to the state's subsidised distribution
system, said the government owed it $96.7 million.
"If we don't get paid within two weeks then we don't have the funds to open
new credit letters and make purchases again," Mustafa Abdel-Majid Idris told
Reuters.
Without the state funds, the formerly state-owned milling firm would have to
delay an order of 50,000 tonnes of wheat, intended to help feed the capital for
three months, Idris said.
The Libyan government insists the country will not have trouble financing its
imports. Economy Minister Mustafa Abu Fanas told Reuters Libya would sort out
any tender problems of private importers.
"We monitor and control the private sector if there are any problems to
facilitate trade exchange through our economic relations...and fix some problems
imports face," he said.
But in a country where the prime minister was abducted last month by
gun-toting militia members, the government's ability to deliver on its promises
is always in doubt.
Under a system that has grown far less centralised since the civil war that
toppled Gaddafi, Libya's state no longer imports huge quantities of wheat
itself, but instead mostly pays for around 35 private milling firms to do the
importing.
The largest is Matahan Tripoli, which was owned by the state under Gaddafi
and milled about 40 percent of Libya's imported wheat, supplying the capital
with pasta, semolina, animal feed and other products as well as flour for
subsidised bakeries. It is now a private firm.
Idriss said the government had promised to pay for private companies to
import even more wheat than usual this year and was now having difficulty
meeting those pledges.
"They opened many credit letters because they were worried people might be
dying of hunger," he said. "Now the state is obliged to pay what it has
contracted... It now faces difficulties to solve the problem."
He said the rise in the number of contracted tenders would force the
government to spend some 1.5 billion Libyan dinars on bread subsidies this year,
500 million dinars more than it usually pays.
Foreign trade and shipping sources say some exporters have become more
reluctant to deal with Libya. Cargoes shipped to Libya have been smaller sized
in recent months.
"The overall climate there is chaotic. You are seeing more wariness from the
international trade to get involved in commodities deals," said a Middle
East-based trade source.
"There are also payment issues and letters of credit are taking a long time
to be opened. There is also the country risk and the discharge and demurrage
risk," the Middle East trade source said. Demurrage refers to costs that
shippers can face if unloading cargo is unexpectedly delayed.
ROGUE MILITIAS
Since Gaddafi was deposed in the only one of the "Arab Spring" revolts that
drew in major Western military involvement, Libya's central government has
failed to tame rogue militias or bring security to the country.
Unlike poorer Arab states that saw revolts in 2011, Libya's oil wealth allows
it to guarantee a decent quality of life to most of its comparatively small
population. But it also means the public depends on the unravelling state for
food and jobs.
The situation worsened sharply this summer when militias managed to block
most oil exports at ports, cutting off the government's main source of
revenue.
While the central bank has built up sizable reserves from oil sales, Prime
Minister Ali Zeidan said last month the opposition in parliament was
deliberately blocking budget payments in a bid to bring down his government.
A European trader said he believed Libya still had enough funds to pay for
food imports, but corruption and confusion were making it impossible to strike
big deals.
"I think the problems are with the governmental chaos and the rising
corruption this is in turn creating rather than lack of money. I think money is
available but the government is hardly functioning in some regions and cannot
pay it out.
"The lack of supervision and uncertainty means corruption is becoming
endemic. It is a nightmare trying to do business with the government."
Another European trader said the situation appeared to be more difficult in
western Libya near the capital Tripoli than in the east, where the main mill for
the city of Benghazi succeeded in buying 50,000 tonnes of wheat last week.
"In my view the Tripoli agencies are almost at a standstill. The Benghazi
agency did buy 50,000 tonnes of wheat but naturally there are concerns it will
actually be paid for. I would expect the Benghazi agency to pay."
WEANING PUBLIC
Ultimately, Libya's government may have to wean the public off such lavish
subsidies, which provide bread so cheaply that the authorities believe 40
percent of it is simply wasted.
Forty bread loaves cost only as much as a single can of Coca-Cola. Libyans
sometimes feed bread to their animals. Much of it is tossed in the bin.
"Few people buy fewer than ten loaves," said Massoud Gampalo, who runs a busy
Tripoli bakery, describing customers who load up plastic bags with cheap bread.
While he was talking a customer stuffed some 50 small baguettes into a box.
Libya imported a staggering 1.8 million tonnes of wheat last year - nearly
six kilos per person per week. Data from the International Grains Council
predicts imports falling slightly to 1.7 million tonnes this year.
Some of the subsidised wheat is diverted through corruption or smuggled to
neighbouring countries for sale at market prices.
In a desert country with only a small strip of fertile land along the coast,
domestic production is meagre.
It is expected to total just 100,000 tonnes this year, down from 260,000 in
2010, largely due to power cuts and damage to machinery from the 2011 war, said
Ali Ahmed Ruhuma, head of the wheat production authority.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London, Michael Hogan in Hamburg
and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; Editing by Peter Graff)
جون كيرى(ا ف ب)اليوم السابع
صورة أرشيفيةسنغافورة (رويترز) - اليوم السابع ارتفعت العقود الآجلة لبرنت صوب 106 دولارات للبرميل، اليوم الأربعاء، مع تفاعل المستثمرين فى آسيا، ومع بيانات تظهر تراجعا فى مخزونات المنتجات النفطية الأمريكية، وهو ما جدد الآمال بحدوث تحسن فى الطلب الأمريكى، وساعد الخام على التعافى بعد تراجعه الحاد فى الليلة الماضية.
صورة أرشيفيةكتب أحمد يعقوب - اليوم السابع 
وزير التعاون الدولى زياد بهاء الدينكتبت مريم بدر الديناليوم السابع
صورة أرشيفيةالرياض- الأناضول - اليوم السابعدعا مجلس الشورى السعودى، خلال جلسته أمس الثلاثاء، هيئة السوق المالية لإنشاء سوق ثانوى للأسهم يضم الشركات المتعثرة والخاسرة.
صورة أرشيفية(رويترز) - اليوم السابعتحدد سعر الذهب فى جلسة القطع الصباحية فى لندن، اليوم الأربعاء، عند 1317 دولارا للأوقية (الأونصة)، ارتفاعا من 1307.25 دولار فى جلسة القطع السابقة.
سيف الإسلام القذافى نجل الزعيم الليبى الراحل معمر القذافيطرابلس (ا ف ب)اليوم السابع
صورة أرشيفيةلندن (رويترز) - اليوم السابعارتفع اليورو إلى أعلى مستوى للجلسة مقابل الدولار، اليوم الأربعاء، بعد أن أظهرت البيانات زيادة أكبر من المتوقع بكثير فى طلبيات التوريد الصناعية بألمانيا.
ميسى لاعب برشلونة الإسبانىكتبت مروة هريدىاليوم السابع
رونالدو لاعب ريال مدريدكتبت مروة هريدىاليوم السابع
رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلى بنيامين نتانياهوالقدس (رويترز)اليوم السابع
