ISLAMABAD: Managing Director, Investments of Saudi Arabia’s Aljomaih Holdings Co, Abdulaziz Hamad Aljomaih has accused Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Power, and Petroleum, Tabish Gauhar, of making “deliberate attempts” to disrupt KE issues’ settlement process, sources close to the Minister for Finance told Business Recorder. He is said to have conveyed his “complaint” to Prime Minister Imran Khan in a letter, copies of which have also been sent to Minister for Privatisation, Minister for Energy, Minister for Finance and Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.
Aljomaih visited Islamabad on March 15-16, 2021, during which he held meetings with the Prime Minister and concerned Ministers and officials.
“I received tremendous goodwill and sincerely appreciated your clear understanding of the long pending issues to ensure KE's sustainability and its ability to efficiently serve the growing power demand in Karachi, he said adding that resolving the pending issues will clear the way for the long-delayed entry of Shanghai Electric Power (SEP) to KE,” he wrote.
Saudi billionaire Aljomaih was the first chairman of power utility after privatisation and remains one of the largest investors in KE through a consortium which bought out KE. According to him, during meetings, he was assured by all including Prime Minister that a dispute resolution document was in the final stages of negotiations, to be approved by the PM’s office soon. However, the matter remains unresolved and potentially even at risk due to last minute negative comments on the agreed document by the SAPM on Power. The document was finalized by all the stakeholders through a lengthy, painstaking process and was due for Federal Cabinet approval. “Mr. Prime Minister, in the spirit of accountability, it is my duty to inform you that there is a clear conflict of interest vis-a-vis involvement of your Special Assistant Tabish Gauhar with KE matters,” he added. Aljomaih told the Prime Minister that during the deliberations, painstaking efforts were made to ensure adequate representation of all parties that had a bone-fide and a conflict-free interest. Gauhar was not included in such deliberation since he has served as the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of KE and would be placed to adequately represent the interests of the Federal Government where KE was a counterparty.
“His involvement will taint the process and the outcome will always remain challenged regardless of what it is. It is therefore unsettling for us to see Tabish Gauhar cast aspersions on a process, he was not party to when this has been fine-tuned to a form acceptable to all parties,” Aljomaih added.
In addition, he stated “he was shocked to learn that well before Mr. Gauhar wrote a letter, he also solicited an invite to join on March 10 2021 an investor briefing call organized and attended by international investors of KE. On the call, as someone aware of the matters (even though he was not part of the process) Mr. Gauhar stated categorically and with certainty, much to the dismay of the attendees of the call, that the Government of Pakistan would be unable to resolve the outstanding issues in a fair manner for both the Government and KE, and that a resolution should not be expected any time soon”.
He further contended that “for foreign investors including KSA, Kuwait, and the UAE entities, receiving such a message from a Pakistan Government functionary while efforts were being made to finalize the conflict resolution document, is most unbecoming and tantamount to mala-fide intent not just for KE but for Pakistan's reputation as an international investment destination. Notwithstanding these issues, Tabish Gauhar has also subsequently commenced a very public anti- KE campaign through various TV appearances for which evidence can be separately presented. In this process, he has publicly questioned decisions he took on behalf of KE during his tenure as its CEO including challenging the amounts of regulatory claw-back determined.
“Your Excellency, as you will appreciate this is not the impartial approach expected of a senior government functionary and clearly represents Mr. Gauhar's conflict of interest.” “Mr. Prime Minister, I beg your personal attention to this very public issue which, in our opinion is entirely unjust and contrary to the spirit of investment principles,” Aljomaih maintained.
According to Aljomaih, “when his group entered Pakistan 15 years ago, it made the largest single direct investment into a power utility and succeeded in turning a bleeding wound of the Government of Pakistan into a self-sustaining entity, despite tremendous roadblocks and bureaucratic hurdles. Now, after 15 years, the investors are still struggling to receive equitable treatment. On behalf of the entire KE investor group, who are highly perturbed and disappointed, I request Your Excellency to urge the relevant Ministries to conclude the process undeterred and in the same spirit in which it was conceived, so that we can move towards resolution of the matters affecting KE and Pakistan’s investment landscape,” Mr. Aljomaih concluded.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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