Fil-ħajja, qatt mhu għaqli li wieħed jidħol fi sqaq. Jekk wieħed jinzerta li jispiċċa f’wieħed, ikun ukoll għaqli wkoll li wieħed jara kif joħroġ minnu minnufih. Bla dubju, min jirnexxielu joħroġ mill-isqaq huwa kapaċi kważi daqs min jevita li jidħol fih. Imma gwaj għal min la jirnexxielu jevita li jidħol f’wieħed jew lanqas jindenja jipprova joħroġ minnu imma jibqa’ għaddej mingħalih li f’xi ħin jew ieħor l-isqaq se jiżbokka f’xi pjazza wiesgħa. Sfortunatament, ħafna drabi l-ħajt jibqa’ mbarrat bla ebda żbokk.
Fil-25 ta’ Mejju li għadda, f’dan il-ġurnal, kont ktibt “Meta bdiet il-kampanja elettorali tas-sena l-oħra, l-ewwel ġimgħat ġew iddominati bil-proposta tal-Partit Laburista li tinbena power station ġdida bil-gass fi żmien tnejn u għoxrin xahar u l-konverżjoni tal-power station tat-tieni fażi ta’ Delimara, dik hekk imsejħa tal-BWSC, mill-heavy fuel oil għal gass wara l-2015... Madankollu, wieħed ma jistax ma josservax li l-kuntest ta’ kampanja elettorali huwa qajla l-iktar wieħed ideali sabiex jiġi determinat l-pjan nazzjonali tal-enerġija. Minflok ma saru studji bil-galbu sabiex jiġi determinat kif l-aħjar jitnaqqas il-prezz tal-produzzjoni tal-elettriku f’pajjiżna, il-Partit Laburista mill-Oppożizzjoni ħa deċiżjoni li tinbena mill-privat power station ġdida ta’ 215MW li jaħdem bil-gass u li jbiegħ l-elettriku lil Enemalta.”
Aktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien, insaħħaħ il-konvinzjoni li din l-osservazzjoni hija korretta u li l-partit illum fil-gvern daħal fi sqaq bil-wegħda pubblika sabiex iraħħas it-tariffi tad-dawl u l-ilma. Bl-awtoimpożizzjoni ta’ terminu manifestament imprattikabbli, il-partit fil-gvern poġġa ruħu fi stat negozzjali ferm dgħajjef u rrenda ruħu vulnerabbli. Verament ma tantx deher li kien hemm min verament kien interessat fi proġett b’terminu daqshekk projbittiv u mid-dehra eventwalment l-għażla waqgħet bejn kumpanija Amerikana u konsorzju stramb magħmul minn kumpanija ftit magħrufa li għandha interessi enerġetiċi fil-Punent tal-Afrika, il-kumpanija tal-gass tal-Ażerbajġan, Siemens u investituri Maltin li qatt ma kienu involuti fil-qasam tal-enerġija.
Il-Gvern għadu jirrifjuta li jippublika l-kuntratt li suppost ikkonkluda ma’ dan il-konsorzju u l-ftit li nafu dwar din il-konċessjoni pubbliku nafuh għaliex waħda mill-komponenti tal-konsorzju, Gasol p.l.c., li kienet preseduta mill-eks Ministru taż-żejt Niġerjan u Segretarju Ġenerali tal-OPEC, Rilwanu Lukman, kienet illistjata fuq il-borża alternattiva ta’ Londra, l-A.I.M. B’hekk, kienet obbligata tippubliċizza l-informazzjoni kollha rilevanti għall-investituri. Fost l-oħrajn, Gasol stqarret li l-gvern Malti kien obbliga ruħu li jixtri l-enerġija elettrika kollha li se tipproduċi din il-power station bil-gass u li anke ggarantixxa ritorn fuq il-kapital anke fl-eventwalità remota li din il-power station ma tipproduċiex biżżejjed elettriku.
Fix-xhur li għaddew, Gasol p.l.c. iddeċidiet li ma tibqax kumpanija pubblika. B’hekk, spiċċa l-obbligu li tinforma lill-pubbliku dwar il-fatturi rilevanti kollha li jaffetwa l-prezz tal-ishma tagħha. Il-fatt li din l-kumpanija għażlet li twettaq “delisting” juru wkoll kemm din l-kumpanija għandha kapital limitat ikkonċentrat fi ftit idejn li ftit nafu dwarhom. B’kumbinazzjoni stramba, fil-21 ta’ Lulju li għadda meta ddelistjat din il-kumpanija mill-A.I.M., tħabbret il-mewt tal-president Niġerjan tagħha.
L-aħħar kontijiet verifikati ta’ din il-kumpanija għas-sena finanzjarja li għalqet fil-31 ta’ Marzu li għadda u approvati mill-Bord tad-Diretturi fil-11 ta’ Settembru li għadda (u li wieħed jiskanta kif, sa fejn naf jien, l-ebda politiku, ġurnal jew sit Malti ma ndenja jeżamina) ma tantx jitfgħu dawl sabiħ fuq din il-kumpanija. Fl-aħħar sena finanzjarja, il-kumpanija tilfet £10,632,295 u b’hekk, s’issa akkumulat telf ta’ £22,492.194. Huwa minnu li din il-kumpanija hija involuta f’bosta proġetti li jirrikjedu spiża kapitali inizjali qawwija u li jridu s-snin biex jirrendu. Imma l-kontijiet verifikati jindikaw ukoll li l-kumpanija għandha dak li jissejjaħ “negative equity” ta’ £2,233,844. Il-fatt li l-kumpanija ma rnexxilhiex tevita tali sitwazzjoni tpoġġiha f’dawl ferm ikrah u turi wkoll għaliex possibilment iddelistjat mill-A.I.M. wara li l-valur tal-ishma tagħha naqas xi 60% f’sena.
Ta’ tħassib partikolari hija nota tal-awditur independenti fil-kontijiet verifikati fejn jgħid “The Group is reliant upon its ability to successfully raise further financing to settle existing loan repayments and fund working capital. Further the Group has agreed to guarantee Senior Notes issued by Afrique Energie Corporation. Although the Directors are confident that the Group will not be required to settle these guarantees and will be successful in raising further finance, this cannot be guaranteed and indicates a material uncertainty, which may cast significant doubt on the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
Fil-fatt, fin-nota numru 1 tal-kontijiet, id-diretturi ammettew li “The Group does not currently hold sufficient cash or liquid assets in order to meet its commitments as they fall due for the next 12 months. Among its commitments the Group has guaranteed US$ 23 million Senior Notes maturing 13 November 2014 which have been issued by Afrique Energie Corporation (“AEC”), a company in which Gasol has a 47% equity interest. The directors are confident that AEC, whose principal asset is a 10% holding in Panoro Energy ASA, will be in a position, through the business proposal it is currently structuring and negotiating, to reimburse its senior notes or to renegotiate the terms, and as a consequence believe that the Group’s guarantee will not be called. The directors have prepared cash flow forecasts which also indicate that, even if the guarantee is not called, the Group will require additional funding within the next 6 to 12 months in order to meet its existing commitments such as loan repayments as they fall due.
The Group is currently involved in discussions with external investors and advisors to secure future financing arrangements in the form of debt, bond or equity instruments. The Directors believe that based on preliminary discussions the outcome will be positive. The Board is also confident that it retains the continuing support from its major shareholders to provide additional funding should other sources not be forthcoming.
With the expectation of the Group not being called on its guarantees to AEC and formally agreeing new funding from its major shareholders and other financial investors, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group will have adequate resources to continue trading for the foreseeable future and have therefore concluded that it is appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis. However, the Directors appreciate that the current lack of formal agreements mean there can be no certainty that the additional funding will be secured within the necessary timescale or that the guarantees will not be called.
These conditions indicate the existence of a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the Group’s and the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”
F’kelma waħda, il-kumpanija trid takkwista finanzjament addizjonali fix-xhur li ġejjin, liema finanzjament m’huwiex garantit. Anke jekk Gasol ma jkollhiex tagħmel tajjeb għall-garanzija tas-self ta’ $23 miljun dovut fit-13 ta’ Novembru, xorta għandha bżonn finanzjament addizjonali sabiex tibqa’ topera, liema finanzjament għadu mhux assigurat. Fl-istess nifs, il-kumpanija ddikjarat fil-kontijiet verifikati tagħha li “The project in Malta, in which Gasol participates in and leads an international consortium, is to deliver and regasify
LNG in order to supply gas to both an existing power plant and to a newly constructed power plant built by the same consortium. This project has also progressed significantly with pre-engineering works having started and Financial Close expected towards the end of 2014.” Dan fir-rigward ta’ proġett li suppost jitlesta sa ftit xhur oħra u li issa ngħatajna assigurazzjoni li se jkollu ftit xhur ta’ dewmien.
Huwa ċar daqs il-kristall li l-kumpanija li tiddetjeni 30% fil-konsorzju Electrogas hija zoppa finanzjarjament, anzi teknikament insolventi u li hija mdawra b’inċertezzi kbar jekk hux se jkollha finanzjament adekwat sabiex tkompli topera. Id-diretturi tagħha kellhom jagħmlu sforz qawwi sabiex jiċċertifikawha bħala “going concern”. Mhux ta’ b’xejn li Electrogas ma kinitx kapaċi tħallas id-depożitu ta’ €30 miljun kif suppost għamlet meta ffirmat il-kuntratt u jidher li dan id-depożitu għadu ma tħallasx. Kif kumpanija f’dan l-istat finanzjarju prekarju tmexxi konsorzju li ntgħażel sabiex tibni power station li suppost se tiswa aktar minn €400 miljun iqanqal bosta mistoqsijiet leġittimi li l-gvern mhux qiegħed jindirizza. Il-pajjiż jixraqlu aħjar: qed nitkellmu fuq settur wisq delikat biex jibqa’ jiġi mmexxi b’dan il-mod.
Ikompli fil-ħarġa li jmiss.
Il-kontijiet verifikati tas-sena 2014 ta’ Gasol p.l.c. wieħed jista’ jarahom f’http://www.gasolplc.com/media/31360/gasol_plc_2014_report__accounts.pdf
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