State-owned PetroSA has begun attaching the assets of oil trader Imvume to recover debt incurred in the Oilgate affair, the parastatal’s chief executive, Sipho Mkhize, said on Wednesday.
He told a media briefing in Cape Town that assets worth an estimated R22 000 had already been attached from Imvume Management, and that PetroSA’s lawyers would now turn their attention to sister company Imvume Resources for the outstanding R3-million.
PetroSA paid Imvume Management an R18-million advance in early 2004 to buy feedstock condensate for the parastatal.
However, Imvume donated R11-million of the money to the African National Congress.
Mkhize said that since an agreement with Imvume was made an order of court in August last year, there had been ”good progress” in collecting the debt.
By March this year, repayments of R9,5-million had been made on a debt that, with interest, totalled R12,5-million.
Imvume then defaulted and in August PetroSA instructed its lawyers to execute the agreement by attaching Imvume assets.
Mkhize said Imvume Resources was the Imvume group’s ”main operating company” and should have enough cash flow or assets to eliminate the debt.
One of these was a sum of R5-million the company was owed by the Eastern Cape government.
He said the PetroSA lawyers would go ”all out” to make sure that the matter was finalised before the end of the parastatal’s financial year on March 31 2007. — Sapa