Diamantino Pedro, who was speaking during a meeting with journalists, confirmed that there was no understanding with Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al-Maktoum, from Dubai, regarding the construction of the logistics base for the storage of petroleum products in Barra do Dande.
"The memorandum of understanding is not a contract, it is a document of intention that can be transformed into a contract, a stronger legal instrument, or not. In this case, we stayed with the memorandum and, after some time of work, we thought that there were no conditions to move forward with the project because there was no understanding, "said the minister.
Without detailing the reasons, Diamantino de Azevedo said that "the other party had a different position" than the Angolan party, so "there was no happy ending, the courtship did not lead to marriage".
The official who oversees the Mineral Resources and Petroleum sectors said that the authorities are "looking for other alternatives to take this project forward".
According to the president of Sonangol, Gaspar Martins, "the project has not stopped" and "the relationship ended amicably", stressing that the sheikh has other investments underway in Angola.
"We made the necessary clarifications and we are continuing the project. We understand that the conditions under which it was intended to cooperate with us were not the most appropriate", he justified.
The memorandum of understanding with the oil company Sonangol for the construction of a logistics base for the storage of oil products in Barra do Dande was signed on November 7, 2019, in an investment estimated at US $ 600 million.
At the time, Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al-Maktoum stressed that "the country has great potential" and expressed the desire to get involved in more projects.
The project for the storage of petroleum products, seen as strategic, was started in 2014 and interrupted in 2016, due to the economic context that the country and the company lived in that period.
The construction of the infrastructure was previously estimated at US $ 1500 million and was to be developed by Atlantic Ventures, a company associated with Isabel dos Santos, which saw the contract revoked in 2018 and advanced, at the time, a lawsuit against the State .
At the time of the announcement, the timetable pointed to the structure being operational in the first half of 2022 and the start of works was scheduled for 2020.
