Kenya's oil marketing company Oilibya says it has suspended payments to the Libyan government. The announcement comes in the wake of sanctions issued by U.S. President Barack Obama.
The U.S. government is concerned that money from Libyan investments oversees has been used to fund the operations of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi against his country's insurgents, the Nairobi Star reported.
Oilibya stated that Libya Oil Kenya Ltd, the registered proprietors of Oilibya, is owned by the Libyan government but is not linked to any particular leader. Oilibya director Rida Hassan Elamir said, "The company is owned by Libya Oil Kenya Holdings Limited and ultimately by the people of Libya, not any individual(s) through a state company."
Oilibya has not paid any dividends to its shareholders since it started operations in Kenya in 2006. A statement issued by the company said, "Recently to comply with the sanctions, the company's shareholders have given categorical instructions that all affiliates are to comply with all local and international regulations required of them and are not to remit any funds to the shareholder, Libya Oil Kenya Holdings Limited. We have therefore complied with this position not to remit any sums including dividends and service fees to our shareholders during the current circumstances and we are in no way making available any funds or economic resources available to a designated person, entity or body under sanctions."
By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More