Myanmar activists oppose sale of Telenor telecom to military-linked firm

Military authorities could soon have access to Telenor's customer database

Written byMong Palatino

Posted 13 February 2022 

Telenor Myanmar SIM card package. Photo by Maung Sun, Wikipedia. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Activists and civil society groups in Myanmar have sent open letters and launched an online petition to the Norwegian government opposing the sale of Telenor Myanmar to a company with links to the country’s Tatmadaw (armed forces).

Telenor is a multinational telecom company based in Norway. It started operating in Myanmar in 2014 through its subsidiary, Telenor Myanmar.

After the military coup in February 2021, Telenor Myanmar faced pressure from the military government which gave several orders related to surveillance and content blocking. In July, Telenor announced its intent to leave Myanmar.

Further deterioration of the situation and recent developments in Myanmar form the basis for the decision to divest the company. In the present situation it has not been possible for Telenor to conduct an ordinary sales process.

Over the past year, Myanmar’s military government has imposed media restrictions and waged a brutal crackdown targeting activists, opposition leaders, and anti-junta groups.

According to news reports, Telenor will be sold to Lebanon-based M1 group and Shwe Bayin Phyu, a group of companies with ties to military-owned businesses. The sale is to be completed on February 15 and the partnership is expected to be named Investcom Myanmar.

Activists and civil society groups warned that the sale would allow the military regime to access more than 18 million Telenor customers’ data. Sensitive information of users including SIM card registration, call and internet logs, and location data could now fall into the hands of the military.

Launched on February 10, the online petition opposing the sale of Telenor has already garnered more than 170,000 signatures as of this writing. The petition cites the danger of this transaction for those opposing the junta:

There are high risks of unpredictable violence, including murder.

All Telenor users and their affiliates, including their family members, are at risk and could be arrested, or murdered based on the user data shared by Telenor to the new owner and the military, by proxy.

The petition offers these alternatives for Telenor to consider:

● Immediately stop the sale to military-linked Investcom.

● Consider all alternatives to the sale to Investcom, including re-licensing, permanently deleting all user data, and shutting down telecommunications infrastructure.

● Not transfer nor sell user data to anyone under any circumstances and for any reason.

Telenor’s sale to a military proxy is described as part of a “digital coup” which placed the country’s telecommunications providers under the control of the junta:

These targeted efforts will enable the military to bring all network services under its stranglehold and escalate abuses of privacy and security rights, through surveillance and related efforts. Yet, disturbingly, not a single telecommunications sector actor has implemented urgent data protection and privacy safeguards needed to protect their customers.

As early as last July, 464 civil society groups expressed their concern about Telenor’s decision to divest its operations in Myanmar without providing clear information about how it will protect the data of its customers.

Telenor has not consulted with civil society over the sale. They have not consulted with customers. They have not consulted with the people risking their lives to resist the military junta, whose lives are in Telenor's hands. We have not been presented with any human rights or corruption due diligence regarding the disposal of their Myanmar business.

In January, 168 groups sent a letter to the government of Norway, which has a controlling stake in Telenor, about the dire consequences of selling the telecom subsidiary in Myanmar to a company with a known record of doing business with repressive regimes.

It is our opinion that the sale of Telenor Myanmar to the M1 Group has significant geopolitical consequences. Therefore, we strongly believe that it ought to be brought directly to the Norwegian Government to be decided on, and not left to the Telenor Group ASA alone. It worries us deeply that Telenor so far has ignored the real government of Myanmar, but rather awaits acceptance of the sale from a violent and illegitimate extremist regime.

In an interview with Myanmar Now news website, Norwegian judge Hanne Sophie Greve stated that she believed Norwegian officials could be held liable if they allow Telenor to be sold to a junta proxy:

I do believe that anyone who assists the military in Myanmar in getting access to data related to perhaps 18 million customers of Telenor may actually be aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

I think that it would be advisable for Telenor to ask the chief public prosecutor in Norway to give an opinion about the possible consequences of the sale. Telenor should await that opinion. I cannot imagine that the answer will be that releasing 18 million customers’ information cannot be aiding and abetting, if the military’s behaviour in Myanmar already, or tomorrow, amounts to crimes against humanity.

Telenor Myanmar tweeted on February 11 its commitment to continuing its operations “as normal”:

Azerbaijani journalists detained, beaten for covering protest

February 15, 2022 

Sevinj Sadygova (left), a reporter at independent news website Azel.tv,
and Fatima Mövlamli, a reporter for independent news website Azadliq,
were detained on February 15, 2022, while covering a protest. 

(Sadygova, Mövlamli)

Stockholm, February 15, 2022 – Azerbaijani authorities should investigate allegations of police brutality against three journalists detained while covering a protest and allow all members of the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

This morning, police in the capital Baku detained Fatima Mövlamli, a reporter for independent news site Azadliq, Sevinj Sadygova, a reporter at independent news website Azel.tv, and Teymur Karimov, chief editor at the independent YouTube-based outlet Kanal1, according to news reports and the journalists, who spoke to CPJ by telephone and messaging app.

The three journalists were filming a demonstration when police forcefully tried to stop them before detaining them, according to the journalists and videos of the incident posted on Azel.tv and Karimov’s Facebook page. The demonstration was heading towards the presidential administration building and was held by mothers demanding that their sons killed in the recent war with neighboring Armenia be officially recognized as martyrs, according to the news reports.

“Azerbaijani authorities should fully investigate the allegations of outrageous police mistreatment of journalists Fatima Mövlamli, Sevinj Sadygova, and Teymur Karimov and take credible steps to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Journalists from pro-government and critical outlets alike must be free to cover demonstrations without fear of arbitrary detention and police brutality.”

Police officers struck Karimov in the arm and knee as they forced him into a police car, he told CPJ. Officers took him to Police Station No. 9 in the Sabail district of Baku, before releasing him without charge after half an hour.

Officers hit and kicked Mövlamli and Sadygova as they loaded them into a police van before taking them to Police Station No. 9. There, they accused them of filming the administration headquarters, which police said was a protected building, the journalists told CPJ, adding that the protest was still several streets away from the presidential administration when they were detained.

They demanded that the pair delete their footage and, on two occasions, pushed Mövlemli to the ground and repeatedly kicked her in the legs and stomach. Officers also repeatedly swore at and insulted Sadygova and Mövlemli, calling the latter a “whore” and saying that they were “fed up” with her, the journalists told CPJ.

Mövlamli, whose outlet Azadliq has been blocked in Azerbaijan since 2017, regularly writes about authorities’ repression of political activists and has been detained more than 10 times, according to news reports.

Police also told them they had no right to act as journalists since they were not included in a centralized register of journalists, which was established by a new media law enacted on February 8, 2022, they said. When the law was enacted CPJ documented how journalists feared the register would be used to restrict the independent press; however, Azerbaijani authorities have denied that journalists excluded from the register will be subject to restrictions.

Police confiscated and subsequently returned one of Sadygova’s cell phones, she said, adding that police ordered the journalists be strip searched to recover additional phones. When the journalists refused unless they were permitted to speak to a lawyer, police relented.

Officers then transferred the pair to Baku Main Police Department, where they released them without charge after four hours. Mövlamli told independent regional news site Caucasian Knot that the deputy head of Baku police called her shortly after her release to say that two police officers had been fired for beating her, but said she doubted this was true.

All three journalists told CPJ they plan to file official complaints over their treatment by police. CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan for comment, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Sadygova continued to report for Azel.tv as the founder, her husband Afgan Sadygov, is currently serving a four-year prison sentence in retaliation for his critical reporting, according to CPJ research.

EAST ASIA
Citizen Journalists Fight Back Against Myanmar Military's Crackdown

Tommy Walker
February 15, 2022 

A journalist and a police officer take pictures of each other as people protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, Feb. 23, 2021.

BANGKOK —

Professional reporters in Myanmar say their job is nearly impossible under the fierce restrictions imposed by military rule. Now, citizen journalists have stepped into the breach, often working undercover to avoid arrests or worse.

After a coup ousted elected civilian leaders about a year ago, press freedom in the country rapidly declined. The junta banned several news outlets; hundreds of reporters have been detained and several killed.

The country's crisis, however, has only inspired converts like 27-year-old Shane, an engineer who lost his job in the post-coup economic turmoil.

Shane joined anti-junta protests with the civil disobedience movement, or CDM, which initially organized street demonstrations featuring Myanmar's professional class — doctors, lawyers, teachers — and then launched successive strikes.

Myanmar Military Targets Sector Professionals as Demonstrations Continue

The experience transformed him.

"My passion is more relevant to the journalist job. That's why I joined the CDM, (and) it can be said that I (then) became a citizen journalist," Shane told VOA. (To help ensure safety, VOA is not using the full name of any citizen journalist in this story.)

After the strikes, Myanmar's military rulers forced those who had been living in government housing to leave, including Shane.

"I returned to my native town, Mindat, Chin state, and a few months later, the battles started," he said.

In May, Shane reported on some of the military's most violent episodes, including conflict with the Chin Defense Forces, formed after the coup to guard townships and civilians from military attacks in Chin state.

"The worst thing I have had to report is around 10 young men were killed in one day in the battle of Mindat," he said.

 Displaced people from Mindat take shelter in a forest in western Myanmar's Chin state, amid ongoing attacks by the military following clashes with the Chin Defence Forces militia group, in May 2021. 

(Handout photo by Chin World / AFP)

Shane said he watched the military burn two men to death. He reported that junta forces arrested several civilians, ordered them to wear military uniforms and used them as human shields, causing a Chin forces retreat.

At the time, Shane was assisting reporters from local, national and international media outlets.

"We don't get income by doing citizen journalism, but with passion and enthusiasm, with the mindset that we will contribute our best for our people and our region, and we are still working on it," he said.

Dozens detained

There is no telling how many citizen journalists are taking up the pen in Myanmar. The void they are filling, however, is big and getting bigger.

According to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group in Southeast Asia, 121 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar as of Feb. 9, 2022. Of those, 47 remain in custody, 16 were convicted of various charges and one died.

According to the United Nations spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, the number of journalists arrested in the past 12 months is higher: 146, including 12 women.

 Police arrest a journalist in Yangon on Feb. 27, 2021, as protesters were taking part in a demonstration against the military coup.

And a Facebook group, Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, counts 23 citizen journalists, freelancers or former journalists detained and one killed.

"The (junta) targets not only working journalists, but they want everyone who has contact with media organizations," said Thiri, a former journalist and administrator for the Facebook page.

Myanmar's military spokesperson has said that only those inciting unrest have been arrested.

The coup took place on Feb. 1, 2021, when General Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the elected government of Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

She is now in prison on what rights groups say are fabricated corruption charges.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 1,546 people have been killed by the military since the coup.

'Gun to my chest'

May, a 26-year-old also from Chin state, has found herself in precarious situations while reporting. She became a citizen journalist before the coup, in 2018, and told VOA that her curious personality had drawn her to the profession.

"I wanted to know something first, so I always go and investigate what happened and share with others," she said. "The life is really different from other ordinary life. It keeps me awake, conscious, alert and active every day."

In April, she witnessed junta forces open fire on civilians in Kanpetlet, a town in Chin state. Despite the dangers, May tried to get closer to the events to gather more information. Soldiers said no.

"The junta forces pointed a gun to my chest and said, 'If you take a step, you will be shot.'"

"I was so weak in my mind, I wanted to cry. I was so angry at him (the soldier). I just stared at him," May said. Fortunately for May, one of the soldier's superiors prevented her from being shot.

It wasn't her first intimidating encounter with the military.

"My phone is often checked by junta forces," she said. "They found some wounded people's photos, and victims' photos and asked me why these photos are on my phone. They questioned me again and again for long hours."

May has no plans to stop. "While there is still growing military pressure, I will continue to do citizen journalism," she said. "It is still going on."

'Whole country' news

Veteran journalist Aye Chan Naing, editor of Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent broadcast media group in Myanmar, has said there is "zero tolerance" for independent media in Myanmar. What's happened in reaction, though, is that "the whole country has become a journalist," Aye Chan Naing said.

"If you really want to work in the media environment in Burma, you really have to be undercover. They (the military) consider everyone an enemy," he told VOA. Burma is the former name for Myanmar.

'Zero Tolerance' For Myanmar's Free Press

A reporter who writes under the name Aung Htun at Burma VJ, a media network of journalists, said colleagues were taking more precautions.

Reporters are using Signal, a secure text messaging app. But with regular internet shutdowns by the junta, it's tough sometimes to get the news out.

With no internet to broadcast on, Shane said he shares his reporting by making phone calls.

"I believe it is my responsibility to write news and broadcast through radio," Shane said. "It is very important for my people, because there is no internet connection since September 2021."

Turkey frees reporters set for jail over Libya coverage, says lawyer

Three Turkish journalists have been released from prison after being jailed over their coverage of Libya in 2020.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
15 February, 2022

A lawyer in the case said the sentences were 'an intimidation directed towards all of society'. [source: Getty]

Three Turkish journalists were released on Tuesday, hours after being jailed over their coverage of the deaths of Turkish intelligence officers in Libya in 2020, a lawyer and opposition member said.

In September 2020, five journalists were convicted of revealing information and documents connected to intelligence activities. They were variously held in detention for up to six months during their trial.

The charges related to articles and social media posts published shortly after President Tayyip Erdogan said in February 2020 that Turkey had "several martyrs" in Libya.

Turkey has provided military support and training to Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord, and helped it fight off an assault lasting several months on the capital Tripoli by eastern Libyan forces led by Khalifa Haftar.

RELATED
Turkey HDP members and journalists arrested in Istanbul

Two journalists were sentenced in September 2020 to three years and nine months in jail, while three were given four years and eight months.

The defendants denied the accusations, saying they had been doing their jobs as journalists. Their sentences were finalised after an appeals court rejected their application on January 28.

A lawyer for the journalists said on Tuesday that Murat Agirel, a reporter for YeniCag newspaper, and Baris Pehlivan, a journalist for opposition daily Cumhuriyet, were released.

Alpay Antmen, a lawmaker for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said journalist Hulya Kilinc was released, but it was unclear if the other two journalists were detained.

Turkish courts do not generally confirm rulings to the media and there was no word on Tuesday's case from the government.

According to the indictment, Agirel was the first to reveal the identities of the intelligence officers, sharing names and photos on Twitter and referring to Erdogan's comments.

Celal Ulgen, another lawyer in the case, said the sentences were "an intimidation directed towards all of society".

RELATED
Turkey seek 11 years for journalist over 'Erdogan insult'

Turkey is one of the world's biggest jailers of journalists.

Critics say Erdogan has eroded the independence of courts and the media since a crackdown following an attempted coup in 2016. Officials say the courts are autonomous and arrests have been necessary because of security risks.

Reporters Without Borders placed Turkey 153rd out of 180 nations on its Press Freedom Index for 2021.

 

Swiss Trading Giant Sells Stake In Russian Oil Firm After EU Sanctions

Mikhail Gutseriyev attends a business conference in Moscow in February 2018.

Switzerland-based mining and commodities trading giant Glencore has said it recently sold its stake in a Russian oil company after its founder was placed under sanctions by the European Union.

Glencore, a publicly traded company, announced on February 15 that it agreed at the end of 2021 to exit its minority stake in Russneft, a small Russian oil producer founded by Mikhail Gutseriyev.

The 63-year-old Gutseriyev, who is from Ingushetia in Russia's North Caucusus, was hit by sanctions in June by the European Union for his close ties to Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian leader of Belarus.

The billionaire was one of several tycoons included in EU sanctions to punish Lukashenka for human rights abuses against the peaceful Belarusian opposition.

Russneft supplies Belarus with crude oil, while Gutseriyev has been supporting the development of a digital economy in the country. He has also been investing billions of dollars in a potash complex since Lukashenka awarded him a license to it.

SEE ALSO:

Targeted: The Lukashenka Allies And Kin Hit With Western Sanctions

CEO Gary Nagle said Glencore sold the Russneft stake because it was no longer a material asset for the company. The Swiss company had reportedly been discussing selling the stake for a few years.

Nagle declined to disclose the sales price or the buyer.

Glencore, which trades on the London Stock Exchange, is valued at $75 billion.

Analysts say the timing of the sale may be tied to the European sanctions, which made it difficult for Glencore to sell Russneft's oil.

The sale also comes amid deeply strained relations between the West and Russia over the Kremlin's aggressive actions toward Ukraine.

The United States has said Russia's massive troop buildup near Ukraine appears to be a prelude to an invasion. Russia denies having such plans.

The United States and the EU have threatened to slap severe sanctions on Russia should it attack Ukraine, raising the risks for Western companies operating in the country.

With reporting by Reuters

Navalny documentary sweeps up awards at Sundance Film Festival

The film sees Navalny and allies investigating his attempted poisoning

Written byRuNet Echo

Posted 12 February 2022 

Aleksey Navalny and director Daniel Roher. Screenshot from video by Sundance Institute on YouTube.

A documentary about the Russian opposition politician Aleksey Navalny and the aftermath of his recent poisoning and recovery, has won two top awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which showcases best independent filmmaking. Navalny is currently serving a lengthy prison term in Russia.

The documentary, titled simply “Navalny,” won both the documentary audience award and the festival favorite award at Sundance. The awards were announced during an online ceremony on January 28.

The film, directed by Daniel Roher, was a last-minute surprise addition to the festival program. On January 24, four days before the award ceremony, the Sundance Institute announced that the festival would hold the world premiere of the film. Festival director Tabitha Jackson praised the film for offering “riveting cinema in the present tense, incredible access, intrepid investigative journalism, a compelling protagonist speaking truth to power.”

The documentary premiered to a limited audience of festival ticket holders on January 25, and was available to view on the festival online platform until January 30. Soon after, pirated copies of “Navalny” began circulating on torrent websites, sparking a discussion about whether making the documentary available to the wider public was “theft” or “samizdat.” The film has also been picked up for distribution by streaming service HBO Max, which also co-produced the film. However, HBO's distribution partner in Russia, Amedia, has said it does not plan to purchase “Navalny” for Russian audiences.

Director Daniel Roher collaborated with the open-source investigative group Bellingcat to tell the story of how Navalny survived the August 2020 poisoning and, while recovering in Berlin, worked with his allies and Bellingcat investigators to piece together who was behind the attack. Ultimately, the investigation concluded that a team of Russian state security agents was implicated in the near-fatal attempt on the anti-corruption campaigner's life. The Kremlin has denied any role in Navalny's poisoning.

After recovering, Navalny returned to Russia in early 2021 year and was promptly arrested. A rushed trial handed him a 2.5-year prison sentence for violating the terms of an earlier parole. His supporters and rights advocates view his conviction as a trumped-up, politically motivated case.

On January 25, the day of the film’s world premiere, Russian authorities added Navalny and several of his allies to its list of “terrorists and extremists”, which also includes Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation. Many of the individuals added to the list have had to flee Russia, and some have been arrested.

More recently, pressure on opposition activists and anti-corruption investigators was ramped up further: at the start of February, Russian internet and media regulator Roskomnadzor threatened multiple media outlets with blocking and ordered them to remove archival coverage of Navalny team's investigations of government corruption, including prominent cases shedding light on lavish real-estate properties of Prime-Minister Dmitry Medvedev and President Vladimir Putin.

Though Roskomnadzor cited the 2021 “extremist” designation of Navalny's networks as pretext for the retroactive removal, most of the articles covering the investigations were published well before the designation: some of the coverage goes back to 2017. Many of the media outlets have complied with the removal orders in order to avoid being banned in the country, though a few, such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Current Time, said they would ignore the demands, calling them “political censorship.”

This post is part of RuNet Echo, a Global Voices project to interpret the Russian language internet. All Posts · Read more »

FORTEAN PHENOMENA

Video captures moment hundreds of birds fell from the sky and died in Mexico

David K. Li - Yesterday 

© Provided by NBC NewsVideo captures moment hundreds of birds fell from the sky and died in Mexico

A security camera captured the moment when scores of birds suddenly fell from the sky and died in northern Mexico.

The video showed a flock of yellow-headed blackbirds hitting the pavement en masse in Chihuahua, about 230 miles south of El Paso, Texas. Local media reported that the incident happened last week.

While many of the birds that were headed south from Canada — where they had spent the winter — recovered from the fall and flew away, dozens of them were dead and did not move.

Local authorities could not immediately pinpoint a cause for the birds' sudden death.

But a veterinarian suspected the birds either inhaled toxic fumes from a heater or might have fallen victim to nearby power lines.

Flight in Malaysia rerouted after snake found on board plane


By CNN Feb 16, 2022

An AirAsia flight in Malaysia was re-routed after a snake was found on the plane, the airline has confirmed.

The domestic flight was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau last Thursday when several passengers reportedly realised there was a snake on board the aircraft.

A social media user shared an image of a snake slithering through the plane's light fixtures.

An AIrAsia flight was forced to reroute when a snake was discovered aboard the aircraft. (AP)

"This is a very rare incident which can occur on any aircraft from time to time," said Liong Tien Ling, AirAsia's chief safety officer, in a statement emailed to CNN Travel.

Once the pilot got word of the unexpected extra passenger, the plane was re-routed to the city of Kuching.

There, the plane was fumigated and, presumably, the snake stowaway was removed.

"The Captain took the appropriate action and the flight safely departed for Tawau as soon as possible," said Mr Ling in the statement.

Incidents of snakes on board airplanes are indeed rare but do happen.

READ MORE: Cyberattack hits Ukrainian sites as Putin says Russia ready for talks with US and NATO

Stowaway snakes on planes are rare but incidents have been reported in recent years. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In 2012, a passenger - who happened to be the owner of a reptile shop - smuggled a cobra in his carry-on luggage on an Egyptair flight and was found out when the snake got loose and bit his hand.
Snakes also wind up on planes unintentionally.

That is what happened to a Scottish woman who was returning from a holiday in Australia in 2016 when she discovered mid-air that a stowaway python had taken up residence in her shoe.

Upon the plane's arrival in Glasgow, the local chapter of the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPCA) retrieved the snake and put it into quarantine.

Luckily, the reptile was identified as a spotted python, which is not venomous.

The world's deadliest, most terrifying, snakes
View Gallery

Incidents like these often trend online thanks to the residual popularity of the cult hit 2006 movie Snakes on a Plane, which starred Samuel L. Jackson as an FBI agent battling a bunch of snakes that were - well, you know.

Who actually owns Libyan oil?
 By James Wilson
Founding Director of the International Foundation for Better Governance, a not for profit organization dedicated to promote, protect and defend the fundamental rights of citizens, human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

Despite the shutdown of oil tankers' navigation systems, satellite images from Zoom and Google Earth clearly show their arrival into the port of Hariga at Tobruk once every few days.

In the past the long-term export of petroleum products allowed Libyans to maintain a high standard of living for several decades, outpacing most African countries in economic development. Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth largest known reserves in the world.

Impressive oil reserves allowed Libya to implement many infrastructure projects and opened doors to the stage of international politics, giving Libyan authorities the ability to influence the decisions of other countries. But the situation has now completely changed. Fluctuations within the Libyan political landscape have a direct impact on the country’s oil production and revenues.

Is oil to blame?

Libya’s ex-leader, Muammar Gaddafi, used the country’s oil wealth to lobby his interests in Europe by sponsoring political parties and candidates.

It was also oil that became one of the main reasons for the fall of the Libyan state in 2011. Attempts to establish a new unified system of power in Libya were unsuccessful. It resulted in a protracted and deep crisis that disrupted the oil supply chain.

During the Libyan civil war, oil became even more important as an expensive valuable resource. The confrontation between the Government of National Unity in western Libya and the House of Representatives in the east stems largely from disagreements about oil production and revenue sharing. Control over oil fields provides a constant stable income which can be easily used to purchase weapons and to conduct military operations. The party controlling the oil flows has a significant advantage over their opponents.

Libyan oil magnate

The success of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, one of the key figures in the modern Libyan political landscape, owes much to his oil revenues. Formally acting on behalf of the House of Representatives and defending the eastern region of Libya, Haftar has long conducted an independent policy, positioning himself as the sole head of this region in the country.

The Libyan National Army under his leadership has controlled the oil terminals of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider for 7 years. Before the escalation of the political crisis, Haftar observed the status-quo, trading oil through an intermediary, represented by the National Oil Corporation office in Tripoli, thus sharing the proceeds from sales. It is estimated that Haftar’s forces helped to maintain official production at the level of at least 1 million barrels per day.

But these agreements on the sharing of oil revenues were disrupted by Haftar’s failed march on Tripoli in 2019. The offensive allowed him to finally gain full control over oil flows in Libya. Haftar justified his claims for oil by the fact that the National Oil Corporation located in Tripoli and affiliated with the Government of National Unity, did not fairly take account of the needs of eastern Libyan citizens when they distributed revenues. All the money remained in Tripoli. Similar accusations were regularly made by Haftar’s supporters, despite the fact that National Oil Corporation representatives regularly transferred funds to eastern Libya.

Khalifa Haftar during a meeting in Athens, Greece.

Leverage

Sole control over the oil industry in Libya gave Haftar the opportunity to manipulate and blackmail in the domestic and international political arena. In an attempt to strengthen and legalise his position, Haftar signed a document allowing him to monopolise the country’s oil sector for 10 years and create a parallel company that ignored the National Oil Corporation. Although this arrangement is completely strictly illegal, Haftar has stubbornly insisted on following it.

There are 5 major oil terminals in Libya: Brega, Ras Lanuf, Hariga, Zuwetina and Es Sider. All of them are located in the so-called oil crescent – a region which extends from Ajdabiya town (southwest of Benghazi) to the eastern outskirts of Sirte. With the growth of income and opportunities, Field Marshal Haftar’s political ambitions have become stronger, albeit against international pressure and the threat of sanctions.

Haftar exerted pressure on the international oil market in an effort to influence international political decisions regarding Libya. An example of this was when the main oil terminals of the country, which were under the control of the Libyan National Army, stopped working on January 18, 2020, before international negotiations in Berlin on the normalization of relations in Libya. As a result, Libya’s entire oil infrastructure, from the extraction of raw materials to sales, was paralysed. The stoppage, which lasted about six months, was Haftar’s political challenge to foreign politicians who, as he believed, threatened his position and intended to remove him from power.

Haftar’s illegal structure for the sale of petroleum products violates international agreements, disrupts the global oil supply system, and causes significant damage to Libyan citizens, who have to endure poverty, hunger and a humanitarian crisis. Haftar and his entourage use the profits from their illegal sales to purchase weapons and luxury real estate. Investigative journalists have alleged that relatives and associates close to Haftar have invested millions of dollars in luxury mansions in France, Italy, Canada and the US.

Tobruk Bay

Libya’s oil resources attract foreign traders who are interested in taking a margin on mediation and oil resales. It has been alleged that Haftar has sold oil through several intermediate companies registered in the United Arab Emirates.

Haftar’s illegal oil trade does not go unnoticed. Even if the navigation information systems of oil tankers arriving in Tobruk are disabled, the vessels are clearly visible on satellites. Their arrival in Tobruk Bay is confirmed by numerous eyewitnesses. Data on these vessels have stopped entering the tracking system since the beginning of January.

Oil tankers continue to arrive at the port of Hariga every few days. For example, on January 27, about 1,000,000 barrels of crude oil were shipped to the tanker Elandra Osprey. About 600,000 barrels were granted to buyers from Singapore, another 400,000 to an unnamed Dutch company. It is also known that on February 3,600,000 barrels were loaded onto the oil tanker Captain Astellas owned by Arabian Gulf Oil and located in the same port of Hariga.

Such actions impact global oil prices, allowing Haftar and his supporters to increase their profit margins, bypassing international markets and internal Libyan restrictions. Daily oil production in Libya is 1.2 million barrels, but the exact amount of oil supplied to the black market is not known. Haftar’s approximate monthly income, if at least 5 million barrels per month are shipped, would be about 450-500 million dollars per month. This is easily sufficient to enable Haftar to promote his military and political agenda.

Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth largest known reserves in the world.

International reaction

Although Haftar’s actions violating Libyan and international laws have not gone unnoticed, the reactions of the UN, the US and the EU have been weak. US State Department representatives have informed Haftar of the threat of sanctions. Haftar is a naturalized American citizen, but if prosecuted he would be dealt with in accordance with local laws.

A representative of the US Department of State noted that Washington has called on all parties in Libya to reject any attempts to militarise the energy sector, divide the country’s economic institutions and subordinate the most important infrastructure facilities to foreign interests. However, these words have fallen short of action. In this context, it should be remembered that some illegal oil supplies may even be resold to the American market.

The lack of proper coordination of an international reaction to condemn Haftar’s actions has had a negative effect on the international oil market and on the lives of millions of Libyan citizens. As long as Haftar exploits his illegal sources of income, he will avoid any political compromise and refuse to comply with agreements that would otherwise contribute to national reconciliation in Libya and the establishment of a unified stable centre of power in the country.

Slovenia to decarbonize steel industry
 By New Europe Online/KG

SLOVENIAN STEEL GROUP’S (SIJ GROUP)

Facilitating the transition towards a low-carbon economy the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is participating in Slovenian Steel Group’s (SIJ Group) €230 million long term debt facility, with €25 million to support the specialised steel company’s efforts to further reduce its environmental impact, the bank said on February 14.

SIJ Group already has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the steel industry globally, manufactures its products from 100% recyclable steel scrap and is aligned with the EU Taxonomy.

The EBRD said the bank has an ongoing collaboration with SIJ tracing from the participation in the company’s inaugural local capital market issuance in 2015 and via a €40 million participation in a 2017 debt facility, contributing towards SIJ’s energy efficiency, investment and refinancing program.

The proceeds from the EBRD’s participation will finance energy efficiency improvement capex at SIJ’s production sites in Jesenice and Ravne na Koroskem, contributing to the company’s decarbonisation efforts and meeting the criteria for “substantial contribution” towards climate change mitigation under the EU Taxonomy. Finally, EBRD’s participation will help SIJ improve its climate-related financial disclosures.

“We are pleased to extend our collaboration with SIJ, one of the most efficient steel producers globally, and finance their ongoing efforts towards reducing further the environmental footprint of their operations and improving their climate-related disclosures,” EBRD Global Head of Manufacturing and Services Frederic Lucenet said.

For his part, SIJ Group CFO Igor Malevanov thanked the EBRD for remaining true to its mission of reconstruction and development. “Aside from its direct contribution in financing our climate related energy efficiency capex, the participation of EBRD in our new debt facility encouraged the other lenders to increase their commitments. This ultimately allows SIJ Group to implement its long term development objectives. We also appreciate EBRD’s support in the improvement of our ESG related reporting,” Lucenet said.

SIJ Group is the largest vertically integrated steel producer in Slovenia and a leading Slovenian exporter with a strong presence in the international markets in 68 countries in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

To date, the EBRD has invested nearly €1.3 billion in 98 projects in Slovenia.