The pro-American reversal of the regime made its mark on March 20 with the appointment of a certain Abdeloumen Ould Kaddour as head of Sonatrach, the financial lung of Algeria. This controversial figure is the former CEO of BRC, an Algerian-American company, subsidiary of Sonatrach…..
The pro-American reversal of the regime took on its full meaning on 20 March with the appointment of a certain Abdeloumen Ould Kaddour as head of Sonatrach, the financial lung of Algeria.
This controversial character is the former CEO of BRC, an Algerian-American company, subsidiary of Sonatrach and the famous Halliburton. From 1994 to 2007, when it was dissolved, BRC carried out grandiose projects with the Algerian army and the Ministry of Energy. Trained at the MIT in Boston, Abdeloumen Ould Kaddour was a perfect incarnation of this Algerian elite turned towards the Anglo-Saxon world.
But the BRC finally drops its balance sheet and leaves room for a huge scandal. Suspicions of corruption and embezzlement are hanging over $ 560 million of contracts signed with the Ministry of Energy headed by a certain Chakib Khelil, the most “American” Algerian leaders, and $ 1.3 billion of markets realized With the Algerian army.
Passing through the prison box
The “very competent”, appreciated and close friend of Chakib Khelil finds himself between 2006 and 2007 mingled with all these scandals. Worse still, he was brought before a military court in Blida and accused of spying for the benefit of the CIA. An investigation by the DRS embedded the former CEO of the BRC by claiming that a spy equipment was found on the office of Ould Kadour. A real movie that even Hollywood could not have imagined. The trial takes place in secret and very little information is filtering. And it is in the same secret that Ould Kaddour was released from prison after several months of detention.
Officially, no court ruling has been passed to rehabilitate Abdeloum Ould Kaddour. Unofficially, it was another DRS investigation that brought him out of prison. BRC is in fact only the ring that experienced the infernal match between Abdelaziz Bouteflika and General Toufik of the DRS. From 2006 to 2013, Sonatrach and the entire oil sector experienced the most deadly battles between these two components of the Algerian regime.
Chakib Khelil, the Vice King
But today General Toufik is gone. The DRS was domesticated by the presidential clan. Long demonized and fought by the officers of the DRS, the Atlantic lobby settled quietly and penetrated the summit of the Algerian State. Since returning home on March 17, 2016, Chakib Khelil activates and lobbying enormously to influence Algerian politics. The friend of Bouteflika is listened to, consulted and plays a strategic role in the new roadmap that Algeria adopts in the wake of the drastic fall in oil prices.
On his advice, Algeria began an arm wrestling with Total and negotiated a global agreement with the other oil-producing countries at a major summit held in Algiers in November 2016. But its influence does not end there. The man who has always campaigned for Algeria to abandon the euro zone and turn to the dollar zone inspires the new restrictions on imports that will drop orders made from France and Europe. TV platforms, social networks, conferences, the former minister married to an American of Palestinian origin and former executive of several American companies gets rehabilitated gently but surely.
The last good move is the Sonatrach operation. His friend, after an exile in the Emirates, Ould Kadour is placed at the head of the economic lung of Algeria. At the same time, the Atlanticists are able to put their roadmap on the road, since Algeria is entrusting large projects to American companies in parallel, and business visits by Algerian officials to the United States have multiplied since 2016.
Sellal in Washington
Economic exchanges between the United States and Algeria have indeed taken on a new dimension since the visit of Sellal at the end of March 2016 in Washington where he met the leaders of several major American groups such as the head of Anadarko, Al Walker A private oil producer in Algeria that develops the oil fields of Hassi Berkine, Ourhoud and El Merk, located in the Berkine basin at Illizi.
The Algerian Prime Minister then had talks with Jeff Miller, CEO of Halliburton, a large American group, specializing in energy industry and services. In Algeria, this group is a partner of the National Well Services Company (NPHS) since 1999 and operates in four different sites in Hassi Messaoud, Hassi Rmel, Ourhoud and In Amenas. Still in the energy sector, Sellal Interviewed with John Rice, vice president of General Electrcic (GE). The company which has been present in Algeria for four decades, cooperates with Sonelgaz and Sonatrach in various energy projects. In 2013, this world leader, listed on the Dow Jones Industrial stock index since the first indexation in 1896, won a contract in Algeria of more than two billion dollars to supply equipment for the electric generation for six new combined cycle power plants . GE is also developing a $ 200 million investment project in Algeria for the construction of an industrial turbine production complex.
A rain of contracts
The Algerian Prime Minister also received the CEO of Varian Medical Systems, Dow Wilson, world leader in radiation therapy and cancer treatment software. The US company has strengthened its presence in Algeria by signing a strategic partnership agreement in the area of radiotherapy with the Ministry of Health in 2014.
Cialfarm, the subsidiary of this large American group, also signed a contract with the private group ETRHB for the creation of an Algerian-American center for radiotherapy in Sidi Abdallah, which is part of the national The fight against Cancer 2015-2019.
Mr. Sellal closed his meetings with Blumberg Grain CEO Philip Blumberg, a world leader in the field of food safety. This company developed the first modular systems for cold storage and dry cereals. Blumberg Grain is currently negotiating with the government the construction of a silo production unit and a control center in food management. The head of Blumberg went to Algeria last February to continue discussions on this strategic project.
Uncle Sam would shave gratis
The American markets in Algeria have been launched and Chakib Khelil and his group of friends and supporters of Atlanticism are continuing their work behind the scenes to bring Alger closer to Washington. Algeria goes so far as to entrust large-scale agricultural projects to American companies. On the high plateaux, American partners are invested to boost the cereal, dairy, meat and potato production. The president of the Algerian-American Business Council, Smaïn Chikhoun, has promised Algerian leaders that thanks to his American investments, Algeria will no longer have to import food from abroad over the next six or seven years.
The American dream makes the Algerian top officials dream. But is this a fantasy dream? The altantists do everything to ensure that they make a choice that will pay off. Disappointed by France’s lack of commitment and contempt for Europe, Algeria is directing its gaze beyond the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find – finally – the right path to development.
