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A section of the 4.7 acres of land, lettered RU and XXX, at Plantation Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, which was sold to Rusal a decade ago.

April 29 2018

Source

A decade after 4.7 acres of land at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, was controversially sold to Russian aluminium company Rusal, purportedly for the construction of a vacation home for its president Oleg Deripaska, it remains neglected and there has been no word on plans for its development.

The land was sold to Rusal upon a directive by former President Bharrat Jagdeo and the sale has since become the subject of the court case brought against former Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh and former head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington.

Both men were recently charged in their absence with three counts of misconduct in public office.

Bharrat Jagdeo

Among the joint charges was that in 2008 while Singh was the Minister of Finance and Chairman of NICIL, he sold a 4.7-acre tract of land, lettered RU and XXX, being a portion of Plantation Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara which is the property of Guyana for the sum of $150 million to Scady Business Corporation, while knowing that the property was valued at $340 million when valued by Rodrigues Architects’ asset valuation officer.

How NICIL came to sell the land is still to be answered as the property should have fallen under government lands after being “Given to the government of Guyana via deed of gift dated 27-05-2003 by the Guyana Sugar Corporation Ltd.” That would mean that it was the Guyana Lands and Surveys Department that should have been the agency responsible to undertake the transaction as per the Lands Department Act.

Jagdeo has said that both Singh and Brassington carried out the transaction in accordance with decisions made by his Cabinet.

Justifying the decisions taken, the former PPP/C president said that a recommendation was made on the matters by the Privatisation Board, which was sent to Cabinet for approval. Approval was given and the matters were referred back to the Privatisation Board and the Unit for implementation.

Oleg Deripaska

He explained that all of the sales went through a transparent process and were among the compilation of sales under his government that was prepared by the Privatisation Unit and submitted to the National Assembly.

But while he gave detailed explanations of the two other sales over which the two men were charged, Jagdeo referred to the Scady purchase as “the other case,” only saying that, that “it was sold for $23 million an acre,” which works out to a $108.1 million sale price.

However, court records state that $150 million was paid, while NICIL’s “Privatization in Tables: Phase II – 1993-2011,” which was prepared by Brassington in 2012, shows that it was sold for $115 million, which was paid to NICIL by Scady Business Corporation.

The document has no date of when the transaction occurred but gives a summary of how the lands were sold to the company.

“Third bidder was selected after withdrawal of the 1st highest bidder given the submission of its detailed development plan for the setting up of its banking headquarters. The 2nd highest bidder had submitted a half page narrative with no details of its serious business intentions of proof of financing,” it states.

It also pointed out that in 2012, that matter was “currently engaging the attention of the courts.” It is unclear if the second highest bidder had challenged the decision of selling the land to Scady.

Scady Business Corporation was incorporated here on April 12th, 2007 as a foreign company and authorised now Senior Counsel Andrew Pollard to accept services on its behalf. It is still listed as an active company at the Commercial and Deeds Registry.

When contacted, Pollard said that he is just the service agent for the company as is required under the Companies Act and could give no information on the transaction.

The only information on the company is that it is Russian-owned and that it is registered offshore in the British Virgin Islands.

And while the NICIL and court documents list Scady Business Corporation as the buyer, documents for the sale of the land were prepared for Rusal.

Surveying of the land was also done for Rusal and the processing of all of the transactions were completed in less than two weeks. “The purpose of the survey is to demarcate Tract RU to allow for conveyancing of title to Rusal Mining Company Ltd,” a sale document states.

The company registration for Scady Business Corporation.
 

Sources knowledgeable of the transaction told this newspaper that the intended purposes of the land was to build a vacation home Deripaska, who is a friend of Jagdeo.

Asked why the land was never developed, a source said “the main issue was that it was paid for. If the man did not wish to build as yet, it is his land.”

But locals purchasing land from government have been pressured to start works or be subjected to it being repossessed regardless of it is paid for in full, according to the terms of the purchase.

A recent visit to the property by Sunday Stabroek found that it is covered by bush. Persons in the area said the land used to be used for grazing cows but persons have stopped in recent years.

The US government added Deripaska to its sanctions blacklist in retaliation for Russian interference in the US general elections of 2016. He was added to the list of seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies they own or control, as well as 17 senior Russian government officials because the US said they were profiting from a Russian state engaged in “malign activities” around the world.

Reuters has reported that Deripaska said that the US’ decision to impose sanctions on him was “groundless, ridiculous and absurd.”

But the move triggered the worst financial crisis Rusal has faced, with its stocks and bonds tumbling and even Rusal’s operations here feeling the impact, with workers uncertain of the future.

The US has said it said it would consider lifting the sanctions on Rusal altogether if it severs ties with Deripaska.

Replies sorted oldest to newest

As long as it involves those crooked Russians, I say you confiscate the property and reassign it to other buyers. Given that nothing has happened for a decade, Oleg has probably abandoned it.

FM
Bibi Haniffa posted:

So Singh and Brassington were charged with selling the land for the wrong price?  

More than the price,

"However,court records state that $150 million was paid, while NICIL’s “Privatization in Tables: Phase II – 1993-2011,” which was prepared by Brassington in 2012, shows that it was sold for $115 million, which was paid to NICIL by Scady Business Corporation."

Django

Selling property belonging to them for under 50% of its worth is all good but not when that property belongs to Guyana. These charges is probably just to get the ball rolling then again we might never hear about this for another year.

Who dis, Shady Business Company anyway?

cain
Last edited by cain
ronan posted:
Bibi Haniffa posted:

So Singh and Brassington were charged with selling the land for the wrong price?  

yeah . . . it's called tiefin

Good to know.  I always thought that price was determined by market conditions and such agreement by buyer and seller.

Bibi Haniffa
Bibi Haniffa posted:
ronan posted:
Bibi Haniffa posted:

So Singh and Brassington were charged with selling the land for the wrong price?  

yeah . . . it's called tiefin

I always thought that price was determined by market conditions and such agreement by buyer and seller.

read wuh Cain seh about public property and check back with me 

FM

This will be a hard case to prove, the fact that a valuation by Rodrigues Architects’ asset valuation officer is subjective and not indicative of true market value.  Interesting times ahead, maybe this will be the landmark case against the PPP, and will finally justify the large sums paid to Clive and company.  The question is whether govt can declare the sale illegal and seize the land from the current owners. It would be a win win for the Guyanese tax payers. 

FM
ronan posted:
Bibi Haniffa posted:

So Singh and Brassington were charged with selling the land for the wrong price?  

yeah . . . it's called tiefin

The key element in a contract is Consideration[money] once that was accepted by all parties, then there was a legal contract.

K
kp posted:
ronan posted:
Bibi Haniffa posted:

So Singh and Brassington were charged with selling the land for the wrong price?  

yeah . . . it's called tiefin

The key element in a contract is Consideration[money] once that was accepted by all parties, then there was a legal contract.

we are all very very impressed with your oh so profound grasp of basic contract stuff

now, where exactly in the charges did it claim that the sale was not book "legal"? I recall the statute term "misconduct" being used

fyi, the vernacular term of art in Guyana for these kinds of PPP runnings is "corruption"

some Guyanese, like me, prefer "tiefin" because we done peep Ashni/Brazzi card already

nice try though . . . you win de Anil CUP for effort above & beyond . . .

FM
Last edited by Former Member

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