Illustrative image: An offshore oil and gas platform. (Photo: iStock) | Gazprombank. (Photo: Jakub Porzycki / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP) | PetroSA logo. (Photo: Wikipedia) 
Gazprombank’s controversial role in the rebooting of the Mossel Bay refinery has been terminated, Minerals and Petroleum Minister Gwede Mantashe confirmed this week, bringing an end to a saga that reeked of skullduggery.
“Minister Mantashe has answered a question from the DA confirming that PetroSA has terminated the deal with Gazprombank Africa to restart the Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids refinery,” a Democratic Alliance (DA) statement said.
“The DA welcomes this announcement but calls for an inquest at PetroSA to determine why Gazprombank Africa was chosen in the first place when it clearly did not have the required credit assurance.”
The R3.7-billion deal with Gazprombank has for months appeared to be dead in the water, but – as is often the case with the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources – a cloud of uncertainty was wrapped around its fate.
In January, it appeared that Gazprombank had pulled the plug on the deal, leaving PetroSA in the lurch and stalling efforts to restart the mothballed refinery.
Read more: GazpromBank reneged on R3.7bn deal to restart Mossel Bay gas to liquids refinery.
“The deal inevitably failed as Gazprombank Africa could not even come up with R56-million required to do a feasibility study let alone the R3.7-billion required for the entire project. The proposed internal investigation also must cover why it took so long to terminate the deal after it became clear Gazprombank Africa was not going to deliver on its financial obligations,” the DA said.
The deal was murky and eyebrow-raising from the get-go, and appeared like the fix had been in, with technical specifications tailor-made for the sanctioned Russian bank. Any deal involving a major Russian financial institution raises suspicions of corruption. Throw in a South African SOE and the ANC, and what could go wrong?
Meanwhile, the future of the Mossel Bay refinery hangs in the balance. The DA said it was calling on PetroSA to re-advertise the tender and find a suitable partner with the required credit profile.
“There are many private sector partners who, under the right conditions, would fund this project,” the DA said. DM