PNGBLOGS

[Press Release by Rt Hon Sir Mekere Morauta] Prime Minister Peter O’Neill should stand down and submit himself to an independent external inquiry into very serious allegations of personal and corporate impropriety. The allegations concern his then wholly-owned construction company Wild Cat Developments Ltd and a bridge-building contract with the Asian Development Bank. The bank investigated the contract and found it to be improperly and incompletely implemented by Mr O’Neill’s company. The bank found proper tender processes had not been followed, rigging of the tender process, misrepresentation, financial management deficiencies, potential integrity violations, serious procurement irregularities, contravention of contract terms, and lack of qualification to tender. Reports by the Guardian newspaper and the PNGi network state that the 2015-2016 project in West New Britain Province “was fraught with problems, requiring the ADB to temporarily stop payments and send in inspector

by HOPE PNG The sale of Oil Search shares by UBS resulted in it recovering part of its principal from the US$1.2 billion (K3 billion) loaned to PNG Government to purchase the shares initially. Of that K3 billion loaned to PNG Government, UBS only recovered K2.22 billion from that sale. Simple math dictates that UBS made a loss of K780 million on the principal amount loaned. • The first shipment of PNG LNG was made in the last week of March 2014 (source: PNG Business Advantage) • PNG LNG proceeds were held in a UBS bank account as collateral in Singapore. • The State offloaded (by directing UBS) the Oil Search shares and made a loss of US$250 million (or K780 as stated by Wapu Sonk). • The actual loss would be well over K1.8 billion when calculating collar costs, commissions to advisors and all other costs associated with the UBS loan. • O’Neill claimed Government made a net gain of K100 million from that sale. • The only logical conclusion one can draw is that UBS dippe

by PAUL FLANAGAN This is the third and final posting on PNG’s 2016 IMF Article IV report.  The two previous posts have focused on PNG’s growth rate being much lower than claimed by the O’Neill government and PNG’s weak external position. The focus of this blog is on fiscal and monetary policy. The IMF report estimates the 2016 budget deficit will be K628 million greater than estimated by the government (so reaching 4.4% of GDP), and this feeds into greater debt levels. Government debt at the end of 2016 is estimated to be K967.3 million greater than stated by the government (and this does not include build-ups in off-budget debt such as the K3 billion in borrowings for Oil Search shares). While commending the government for its actions in the 2016 Supplementary Budget and “prudent” 2017 budget, there are concerns about where expenditure cuts have been made, the lack of effort on raising revenues (in particular from the resource sector), and the need to improv

THE LNG LANDOWNERS OPPORTUNITY TO BUY 4.22 % EQUITY FROM THE STATE ENDS ON 30 JUNE 2016; WILL PETER O’NEILL FIND THE MONEY TO MEET THE OBLIGATIONS? by ANDRE BILAK STEVEN PNG is already having a serious cash flow problem, and nothing can be more evidenced than the Minister for Finance James Marape’s statement few weeks ago that all MPs (who supposed to receive K15m DSIP funds) will receive K1 million each for this year. The cash flow crisis is affecting business houses, government departments and households like never before. The Bank of Papua New Guinea has about less than US$1.4 billion in reserves against pending foreign exchange orders of around K4 billion plus and the situation is not improving any sooner. The endless cue for sending funds overseas is unbearable and killing many import reliant businesses in this import-reliant economy. Many learned experts in economic management have advised O’Neill, since early signs of doom emerged, to take remedial actions immedia

by GOVERNMENT INSIDER The Swiss bank UBS struck a massively controversial deal to land the PNG government with a 10 per cent stake in ASX and PNG-listed company Oil Search.  The shares as you all know costed PNG A$1.2 billion, a staggering 8 per cent of our GDP. UBS insiders describe this deal as one of the "most amazing deals" the bank has ever done due to the staggering 12.3% interest they are earning from us.  This rate is well above an average commercial banks interest rate. Others, however, say the amazing part is that the bank was able to get away with it. This lucrative deal, the PM has coerced The National Petroleum Company Board to sign on an Irrevocable Escrow Agreement to keep our 19.4% LNG revenue in a Singapore Bank account as a collateral to the collar Loan, managed/Controlled by UBS According to the Clause 14.  Of the UBS Collar Loan Agreement dated 12 March 2014, UBS AG Australia Branch will appoint a Receiver Manager to sell the Oil Search Sha

by MICHAEL J PASSINGAN The Swiss Bank behind Prime Minister Peter ONeill’s’s illegal and corrupt loan to buy 10% of Oil Search is facing new allegations of money-laundering and financial fraud.   UBS is being investigated over money laundering and serious organised tax fraud in Belgium. A statement from prosecutors said: "The Swiss bank is suspected of having directly, and not via its Belgian subsidiary, approached Belgian clients to convince them to set up constructions aimed at evading taxes."   UBS said it would "defend itself against any unfounded allegations". The prosecutors' statement said the judicial investigation came after "excellent" help from French authorities, who had been looking at allegations that UBS had been encouraging clients to open accounts in Switzerland to avoid tax between the years 2004-12.   The US has also been looking into whether the bank allowed its US customers to hide their wealth from the Internal Revenue Servi

by MICHAEL JOSEPH PASSINGAN Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has just cost Papua New Guinea almost K1.5 billion because of his reckless, corrupt and unnecessary borrowings. The loss is on the refinancing of his illegal K3 billion UBS-Oil Search loan. The deal was done in secret in Sydney earlier this month to avoid having to reveal the massive loss that the Prime Minister, UBS and Oil Search have inflicted on the nation. Details of the deal were not revealed when Kumul Petroleum MD Wapu Sonk announced it over the weekend.  Mr O’Neill’s secret loss comes at a time when the Government is virtually bankrupt, unable to pay public servants and cutting spending on essential services such as health, education and power generation.  It will add to the record and illegal levels of debt already incurred by the Prime Minister. It will contribute to further worsening of the living standards of ordinary Papua New Guineans. The refinancing of the UBS-Oil Search loan is even worse tha

by MARK PARAKISAN S ensitive questions to break out the truth: WHY WAS PETER O'NEILL SO DESPERATE TO SECURE THE UBS LOAN? THE BEANS ARE SPILLING OUT. The very sad details about the UBS loan has been revealed. Knowing all this, one starts wondering why from all accounts, Peter O'Neill expressed more than happiness when the deal with through and the Oil Search shares were bought. Witne sses say he was overjoyed. Overjoyed? Anyone who knows Peter O'Neill knows that he is a man of few outward emotions. Yet, the UBS deal obviously meant something big to him. Very very big. There are 2 very obvious possibilities: Peter O'Neill was either receiving the proceeds of corrupt commissions, or he was profiting greatly off selling shares of Oil Search as the UBS loan co-occurred with the peak Oil Search price. "Corrupt commissions" are when someone with insider knowledge sets up a crony (or a relative) to be in charge of facilitating