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By Mary Taruvinga
CMED (Pvt) Limited will finally recover its US$2, 7 million paid to First Oil Company back in 2013 after High Court judge, Owen Tagu ordered the oil dealer to pay compensation for 3 million litres of diesel which were not delivered.
The two companies have been at each other’s throats over the past eight years with the case having landed some top officials at First Oil company in the dock back in 2014.
Parties had entered into an agreement of supply and delivery of diesel in terms of which First Oil Company, the defendant in this case, was to supply 3 million litres of diesel to the plaintiff, CMED, upon payment.
Deadlock over oil licences
BY FIDELITY MHLANGA
A rift has emerged between indigenous fuel companies and the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) over oil importation licence fees, minutes of meetings involving the entities obtained by Standardbusiness have revealed.
To be granted authority to operate, oil companies are required to pay retail and fuel importation licence fees, in addition to meeting several conditions.
Zera last year announced a new licensing regime that included production of proof that potential licence holders have previously imported at least 10 million litres, much to the chagrin of indigenous players.
They are also required to have at least 15 refuelling stations.
A slow down in economic activity due to the coronavirus-induced lockdowns saw fuel (diesel and petrol) imports decline in the ten months to October.
Figures from the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority show that diesel and fuel imports declined 20% in the ten-month period to a combined total of 933.9 million litres from 1.16 billion litres in the comparable year-ago period.
Diesel imports were down 22.06% to 608.99 million from 781.39 million last year with April, when much of the industry was shut down, dropping the most at 34.38 million litres, a decrease of 48.41% from the same period in 2019.
President Mnangagwa announced the first lockdown towards the end of March for three weeks and extended it by two weeks twice before he eased the restrictions to allow most businesses to operate. There was a recovery in May at 66.63 million litres but the availability of electricity and more recently the price increases seen from September kept diesel imports subdued.
Crecey Kuyedzwa Share
A company owned by former Eskom acting CEO Matshela Koko, has been granted a licence to produce solar energy in Zimbabwe s Matebeland South Province.
Matshela Energy will build a solar plant which is expected to produce 100MW of electricity, in a bid to ease Zimbabwe s electricity supply crisis which has led to outages lasting up to 18 hours.
In a statement released Sunday, the country s energy regulator, Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) said the company will construct, own, operate and maintain the 100MW solar power plant called Matshela Energy in Gwanda, south of Zimbabwe. Subject to the Electricity Act and the terms and conditions of the licence, the licensee may supply electricity to any transmission, distribution or supply licensee who purchases electricity for re-sale and with approval of the Authority to any one or more consumers.