ADEN — The first shipment of the oil derivatives grant provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY), arrived at the port of Aden Saturday, in coordination and cooperation with the Yemeni government and local authorities, which will be used to operate more than 80 Yemeni stations at a value of $422 million.

The total amount of the shipment stands at 909,591 metric tons of diesel and 351,304 metric tons of mazut, in support of achieving economic and living stability for the Yemeni people. This shipment represents a continuation of the Kingdom’s support to Yemen, a reflection of the strong ties between the two countries, and coinciding with the beginning of the summer where the electrical consumption peaks in light of high temperatures.

The arrival of the shipment in Aden Port was received by Yemeni Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr. Anwar Kalashat; Governor of Aden Ahmed Hamed Lamas; Commander of the Duty Force Brig. Gen. Nayef Al-Otaibi; Yemeni Deputy Minister of Oil Dr. Saeed Al-Shamasi; Yemeni Deputy Minister of Planning Nizar Bashaib, and Director of the Petroleum Derivatives Project in the SDRPY Salman Al-Hazimi.

In a statement, Yemeni Minister of Electricity Dr. Anwar Kalashat said, “This shipment will have an important role for the Yemeni people and will give the Yemeni government a great opportunity to work towards developing future solutions to the electricity crisis. We hope that we see the desired goals of this grant with the cooperation of all parties to end the electricity crisis in order to lead to the recovery of the sector and the development of reforms that improve the status of the electrical system.”

For his part, Aden Governor Lamas affirmed that this initiative will support stability and development in Aden and all Yemeni governorates.

Meanwhile, Director of the SDRPY Petroleum Derivatives Project Al-Hazimi affirmed that the SDRPY and the Yemeni government have developed an integrated governance mechanisms for oil derivatives.

"The Yemeni government has formed a supervisory, control and follow-up committee consisting of all relevant Yemeni ministries and authorities, and civil society organizations in Yemen, in addition to SDRPY and an international neutral inspection company, as well as the media," he said.

He pointed out that the committee will act in accordance with an executive program and a control mechanism ensuring that the grant reaches the beneficiary stations with high reliability and integrity and allowing all concerned parties to monitor all data pertaining to the grant via an electronic platform to be launched soon.

The grant will actively contribute to the recovery of economic and social life, especially as it will help the Yemeni government to direct its expenditures to support the civil employees’ salaries as well as the provision of basic services by contributing to the operation and revival of infrastructure projects.

The grant will also contribute to solving the problem of frequent power outages that affect daily living, as well as raising the performance of vital sectors' services in Yemen. This support will have a positive impact on the economic, health, educational and service fields, and improve the general conditions.

The previous $4.2 billion oil derivatives grants had an economic impact in reducing the burdens on the Yemeni government’s budget, and not depleting the Central Bank of Yemen of hard currency in purchasing oil derivatives from the global markets.

The Saudi support also helped to stabilize the exchange rate of the Yemeni riyal and fuel prices against the US dollar, and create job opportunities, in addition to raising the productivity of the Yemeni citizen, and improving the livelihood opportunities for the Yemeni people. — SPA