Press Statement from Isabel dos Santos
Angolan Minister of Transport Issues False Statement re: Porto de Dande
14th July 2020:
Statement of clarification: Contrary to a false statement issued today by the Angolan Minister of Transport,
Viegas de Abreu, the Paris arbitration tribunal has not rejected a $850 million claim by Atlantic Ventures SA
against the Angolan government for cancelling a contract to build and operate the proposed $1.5 billion Porto
de Dande port in southwest Angola. In fact, the Arbitral Tribunal simply found that it could not rule on any
merits as it decided it did not have the competence to assess the matter and, therefore, did not take a position
on the requests submitted by Atlantic Ventures.
Isabel dos Santos said:
“These kinds of false statements do the people of Angola a huge disservice. The Minister of Transport has
knowingly issued a blatantly false statement which has totally misrepresented the Tribunal’s decision. The
Tribunal has simply declared it is not a competent body to rule on the case. The tragedy about this situation
and the Angolan state’s willingness to issue false statements, is that once again, this vital piece of infrastructure
for Angola, a much need new privately funded port, will be delayed even further, at a time when the Angolan
economy so desperately needs new investment and employment.”
-Ends-

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Appendix – Tribunal Decision