Displaying items by tag: Legal
Dangote Cement comments on BUA limestone dispute
19 December 2017Nigeria: Devakumar Edwin, the executive director of Dangote Cement, has accused BUA Group of illegally mining limestone at a site near Okene in the south of Kogi state. He made the comments at a press conference in response to public comments by Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BUA Group, that Dangote Cement had ‘sabotaged’ its operations, according to the This Day newspaper. The dispute between Dangote Cement, the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development and BUA is currently pending before the Federal High Court.
According to Edwin, Dangote Group first acquired an interest in the mining lease in 2014 after a previous company obtained the rights in 2007. However, BUA claimed access to the lease when it later purchased Edo Cement, a company also operating in the area. BUA Group responded to Edwin’s claims by stating that it does not have any operations in Okene, Kogi State where the disputed lease is located.
Supreme Court lifts ban on petcoke and furnace oil by cement industry in northern states of India
14 December 2017India: The Supreme Court has lifted a ban on petcoke and furnace oil to the cement and power industries in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The court also directed the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to set regulations for the sale of petcoke and fix emission standards for thermal power plants, according to the Indo-Asian News Service agency. Representatives of the cement industry have welcomed the ruling. The Central Pollution Control Board and the MEF issued the ban following a directive from the Supreme Court in late October 2017 prohibiting industries in the three neighbouring states of Delhi from using the polluting fuels.
France: Lawyers on behalf of the human rights group Sherpa have accused Lafarge of paying nearly Euro13m to armed groups including Islamic State between 2011 and 2015 in order to keep a cement plant operating during the Syrian civil war. They made the statement at a new conference about a preliminary inquiry into the affair, according to Reuters. The lawyers said that a large portion of the money went directly or indirectly to Islamic State and that the payments continued after Lafarge's Jalabiya cement plant was closed in September 2014. They used a figure taken from an internal report by Baker and McKenzie that was commissioned for LafargeHolcim.
Uzbekistan to sell cement through exchanges in 2018
13 December 2017Uzbekistan: The government has ruled that cement producers must sell cement only through exchange auctions from 1 January 2018. Cement not sold through first trades can then be re-exhibited within one month before it will be allowed to be sold for export under direct contract, according to the Trend News Agency. A ban on the resale of the products purchased on the exchange is cancelled.
Eric Olsen placed under formal investigation in Lafarge Syria probe
08 December 2017France: Eric Olsen, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of LafargeHolcim, has been placed under formal investigation as part of an inquiry into the company’s conduct in Syria, according to a source quoted by Reuters. He has also been placed under judicial supervision. Olsen had previously been questioned along with Bruno Lafont, the former CEO of Lafarge, and Christian Herraul, the former deputy managing director for operations.
Olsen was the head of human relations during the period the probe is covering. LafargeHolcim’s predecessor company Lafarge Syria allegedly paid terrorist groups in Syria to allow a cement plant to continue operating during the Syrian civil war. Olsen later became the CEO of LafargeHolcim when Lafarge merged with Holcim in 2015. However, he resigned in April 2017 following an internal review of the situation. At this time he said that his decision was motivated by his desire to draw a line under the affair. He added that he was ‘absolutely’ not involved in the case and had been unaware of any wrongdoing.
Former Lafarge boss Bruno Lafont questioned in Lafarge Syria probe
07 December 2017France: Bruno Lafont, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Lafarge, has been questioned in an investigation into the company’s conduct in Syria. Lafont was interviewed, as well as the former human resources chief Eric Olsen and former deputy managing director for operations Christian Herrault, according to sources quoted by Agence France Presse.
The investigation is attempting to determine whether LafargeHolcim’s predecessor company Lafarge Syria paid terrorist groups in Syria and how much managers knew about the situation. Lafont was the CEO of Lafarge during the period the inquiry is examining. Olsen later became CEO of LafargeHolcim but resigned after the completion of an internal review into the affair in April 2017, despite not being found personally culpable or even aware of the situation.
Indian ministry considers exemption for cement plants from petcoke and furnace oil ban
05 December 2017India: The Ministry of Environment and Forest (MEF) is considering exempting cement plants and power companies from a ban on using petcoke and furnace oil for industrial use in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Additional solicitor general A Nadkarni informed the Supreme Court that the use of petcoke in the cement industry was ‘minuscule,’ for non-fuel purposes and that it is used for de-sulphuring, according to the Hindustan Times. However, the exemption, if granted, will only be allowed for one year to allow cement companies to switch to alternative fuels.
The Central Pollution Control Board and the MEF issued the ban following a directive from the Supreme Court in late October 2017 prohibiting industries in the three neighbouring states of Delhi from using the polluting fuels. Use of petcoke and furnace oil is already banned in the capital region. The ban was imposed following high pollution levels in Delhi.
Mining ministry and BUA Group argue over mining dispute
05 December 2017Nigeria: The head of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has publicly rebutted accusations by Abdulsamad Rabiu, the chief executive officer (CEO) of BUA Group, that the ministry and Dangote Cement have ‘sabotaged’ operations at the company. Rabiu made the allegations in a letter sent to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the This Day newspaper.
Rabiu says that the rival cement company and the ministry colluded in a legal dispute about operations at Okpella in Edo State and mineral resources. Allegedly, a militia attempted to damage the cement plant before security forces intervened. Later government officials and police tried to stop work at a BUA Cement mine despite on-going legal action.
Mohammed Abass, the head of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, responded by describing Rabiu’s accusations as, “…an unwarranted campaign of calumny against the ministry.” He added that the cement company was attempting to blackmail the ministry into granting a ‘free pass’ for illegal operations. The ministry says that it issued a Stop Work Order for the disputed mine in 2015 but that BUA Group ignored it and has continued to work at the site whilst the legal case was pending. Later, the staff of BUA Group resisted an attempt to shut the site down in mid-November 2017.
Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started legal action against Irish Cement’s for alleged breaches of its operating licence at its Limerick plant. A court summons is related to dust ‘blowouts’ from the plant, according to the Limerick Leader newspaper. The case is scheduled to come before the Limerick District Court in early March 2018. The EPA investigated dust emissions from the plant in April 2017.
France/Belgium: French police have searched the Paris offices of LafargeHolcim as part of an on-going investigation into the company’s conduct in Syria. At the same time the offices of Belgium’s Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) were also searched, according to the Agence France Presse (AFP). Both companies said they were cooperating with the investigations.
A source quoted by AFP said that the investigators are trying to find out if GBL had been aware of Lafarge Syria’s activities in Syria. GBL is a shareholder of LafargeHolcim that held a 9.4% stake at the end of 2016. The investigation as a whole is attempting to determine whether LafargeHolcim’s predecessor company Lafarge Syria paid terrorist groups in Syria and how much managers knew about the situation.