An Angolan court has ordered the seizure of three textile factories located in the provinces of Benguela, Kwanza Norte and Luanda, the National Recovery Service of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) announced on Thursday.

The three factories subject to precautionary measures for seizure are the fabric factories of Mahinajethu-Satec, located in Dondo, Kwanza Norte province, Alassola-África Têxtil in Benguela and New Textang II in Luanda.

The statement said that the measure is part of ongoing work to investigate public funding granted to private companies, “some of which is an irregular privatisation process,” without the voluntary repayment of these funds to date.

The PGR reported that the three factories seized were financed through a credit line of the Bank of Japan for International Cooperation in the amount of US$1,011,258,925.00, which loans are being charged to the Angolan state.

The statement added that a credit line of US$ 12,996, 615,398.00 was issued by Banco Angolano de Investimentos to the factories located in Dondo and Benguela, to which a sovereign guarantee was added, and those companies have not paid back the loan that is being charged to the State.

The statement from the PGR cited by Angolan news agency Angop also mentions the case of the Cement Factory of Kwanza Sul, an enterprise to which the Angolan State lent US$820,513,293.40 through state oil company Sonangol, and to date, no funds have been repaid.

In this case, taking into account the national interest and the fact that the plant is currently in operation, the State “has decided to sign a debt settlement agreement,” in which, “its interests and maintenance will be duly safeguarded.”

There is also the case of Geni, SA, with which the State, through Sonangol, entered into a loan agreement in kwanzas equivalent to US$53.28 million for the acquisition of shares in Banco Económico, on which US$29,591,651.81 remains unpaid.

The statement said that the Angolan state lent US$125 million to Lektron Capital, also for the acquisition of shares in Banco Económico, and added that the company has voluntarily turned over its shares to the Angolan state, while Geni, SA has undertaken to “pay the debt.”

If it does not do so, the PGR warns, the National Asset Recovery Service, on behalf of the State, “will immediately institute the precautionary procedure for the seizure of said shares.”

The PGR also reported that “an unspecified precautionary measure was instituted,” against the Suninvest Group for the “immediate delivery” to the State of drug factories in the provinces of Luanda and Benguela, which was approved by the court.

Lastly, Companhia de Bioenergia de Angola (Biocom) used a sovereign guaranteed loan of a banking syndicate consisting of two unspecified national banks, in the amount of kwanzas equivalent to US$210 million.

The statement said that Biocom has a liability to pay, which, due to the sovereign guarantee issued, will lead the State to trigger “all mechanisms” to avoid setting off said guarantee, a process “that may involve the recovery of ownership of the company.” (Macauhub)