{"id":13844,"date":"2021-06-17T09:31:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T09:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=13844"},"modified":"2021-12-01T12:39:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:39:16","slug":"a-belgian-concessionaire-in-congos-forest-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/press\/13844\/a-belgian-concessionaire-in-congos-forest-again\/","title":{"rendered":"A Belgian Concessionaire In Congo\u2019s Forest, Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
Protect the green heartland of Africa<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Just as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was trying last year to launch its first land-use planning reform, the then Environment Minister Claude Nyamugabo sealed the fate of a forest half the size of Belgium by concessioning it off to a Belgian businessman.<\/p>\n\n

On the 12 September 2020 Mr. Nyamugabo awarded six forest \u201cconservation\u201d contracts covering nearly 1.4 million ha to Tradelink SARL, a Congolese firm one of whose shareholders is Aleksandar Voukovitch, a Belgian expat who made his career in mining, oil and timber.[1]<\/p>\n\n

The allocation of the concessions by Mr. Nyamugabo, against whom civil society has taken legal action in another affair, appears to be a violation of the relevant legislation.[2]  An administrative appeal seeking the cancellation of the contracts was filed by two local NGOs on 9 June.[3]<\/p>\n\n

Born in Kamisuku, in Maniema province, based since the beginning of the 1990\u2019s in Lubumbashi, M. Voukovitch is today an associate of Afritalia Trading, specialized in oil trading and transport services for the country\u2019s major mining multinationals.[4]<\/p>\n\n

If officially the Tshuapa and Tshopo province \u201cconservation\u201d concessions awarded to Tradelink are for the \u201cvalorization of environmental services associated with a REDD+ project,\u201d the nature of the project the firm proposed to the Ministry is unknown to us, as is its competence in forest conservation or the protection of forest community rights.<\/p>\n\n

Contacted by Greenpeace Africa, Mr. Nyamugabo declined to comment, referring us to the Ministry, specifically the general secretary and the general director. Both failed to respond to our mail. <\/p>\n\n

The Forest code limits concessions to 500,000 ha.[5]  The Tradelink contracts cover 1,376,375 ha.<\/p>\n\n

A 2011 decree requires that \u201ca representative of local residents of the forest and, where applicable, of indigenous peoples\u201d be present when concession applications are examined.[6]  This requirement appears not to have been respected either.<\/p>\n\n

Neither the amount of the payments \u201cagreed\u201d with the Ministry \u2013 as the decree puts it \u2013 nor the amount of Tradelink\u2019s bank deposit is known to Greenpeace Africa.<\/p>\n\n

Ir\u00e8ne Wabiwa Betoko, head of Greenpeace Africa\u2019s forest campaign said: \u201cHow odd!  Not a word from the Congolese nomenklatura — always so touchy about \u201cnational sovereignty\u201d \u2013 when, sixty years after independence, a Minister sells off a fief half the size of Belgium to a company linked to a Belgian expat. These scandalous concessions must be immediately cancelled, and their allocation added to the already serious charges pending against Claude Nyamugabo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

In addition to having been a shareholder of \u201cmany Congolese companies holding mining concessions,\u201d over the course of his career, Mr. Voukovitch is also owner of the logging firm Compagnie foresti\u00e8re de l’Equateur (CFE).[7]  He has participated in the exploitation of a canal on the Congo River as well as in a financing scheme to recover debt owed by G\u00e9camines.<\/p>\n\n

In 2014 the major shareholder of Tradelink, a brokerage and import\/export firm, was Giovanni Zunino, who runs Afritalia and is Italian honorary consul in Lubumbashi.[8]  No longer a Tradelink shareholder, he is today a giant in Congo\u2019s mining transport sector.[9][10]<\/p>\n\n

Cited in the “Panama Papers,” Mr. Voukovitch was sued ten years ago by the Canadian mining firm El Nino Ventures, at the time partnered in a copper mining joint venture with his GCP Group.[11] [12]  According to El Nino, Mr. Voukovitch and his associate attempted to illegally transfer mining permits in which El Nino held majority stakes to \u201ca newly formed company whose sole purpose was to be the transferee of the permits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

While Tradelink\u2019s current shareholder structure is unknown to us, the signatory of the concession contracts awarded to Tradelink last September is Pierre Nakweti Kikangu.<\/p>\n\n

Mr. Nakweti is also signatory, on behalf of Mr. Voukovitch\u2019s logging company CFE, of an 18 April 2016 logging concession contract, n\u00b0001\/2016.[13]<\/p>\n\n

As of 2019, CFE had yet to file a management plan.[14]  Ten years ago its concession GA 032\/96 was cancelled following the findings of an Interministerial commission set up to review the legality of logging titles.[15]  It was later reinstated by a court decision.<\/p>\n\n

In 2009 Mr. Nakweti represented the US firm Triple A International, seeking to recover a Mobutu-era debt.[16]  The company had furnished the Zairean army with $14 million worth of \u201clight military equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

In 2007 Mr. Nakweti is referred to in court documents as a \u201cmagistrate\u201d residing in Nairobi and the major shareholder of a Congolese firm called \u201cKivu Wood\u201d.[17]<\/p>\n\n

A 2019 tax authority listing indicates Tradelink as having \u201cceased operations\u201d.[18] <\/p>\n\n

In response to our request for comment, Mr. Voukovitch stated that he considers certain of our allegations \u201crather inaccurate,\u201d without further specification.  He suggested \u201cbefore any publication, to wait for the result\u201d of the 9 June administrative complaint.  Mr. Nakweti did not reply to our email.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace calls for the immediate cancellation of the Tradelink concessions and the opening of a legal investigation into their award.<\/p>\n\n

Contact:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Irene Wabiwa Betoko
<\/strong>International Project Leader, Congo Basin Forest Campaign a.i, Greenpeace Africa: irene.wabiwa@greenpeace.org<\/a>
<\/strong>Tel: <\/strong>+243976756102<\/p>\n\n

Arin de Hoog
<\/strong>Interim International Communications Coordinator, Greenpeace Africa: adehoog@greenpeace.org<\/a>
<\/strong>Tel: +31 (0) 646 197 329<\/p>\n\n

\n\n

[1] \u00ab Contrat[s] de concession foresti\u00e8re de conservation pour la valorisation des services environnementaux associ\u00e9s \u00e0 un projet REDD+ en R\u00e9ppublique [sic] d\u00e9mocratique du Congo n\u00b010[-15]\/CAB\/MIN\/EDD\/CNB\/MM\/1\/2020 \u00bb, 12 September 2020, https:\/\/medd.gouv.cd\/contrat-de-concession-forestiere-de-conservation-pour-la-valorisation-des-services-environnementaux-associes-a-un-projet-redd-en-reppublique-democratique-du-congo\/<\/a>; RTBF, \u00ab Congo RDC, Aleksandar Voukovitch, Consultant \u00e0 Lubumbashi \u00bb, 14 June 2019, https:\/\/www.rtbf.be\/lapremiere\/emissions\/detail_les-belges-du-bout-du-monde-emission-radio\/accueil\/article_congo-rdc-aleksandar-voukovitch-consultant-a-lubumbashi?id=10150415&programId=432<\/a>; Email Aleksandre Voukovitch to Arnaud Labrousse, 4 April 2021<\/p>\n\n

[2] GTCRR, \u00ab NOTE DE POSITION DES ORGANISATIONS ET RESEAUX DE LA SOCIETE CIVILE OPERANT DANS LE SECTEUR DE L\u2019ENVIRONNEMENT EN REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO SUR LES 9 CONCESSIONS ATTRIBUEES PAR LE MINISTRE DE L\u2019ENVIRONNEMENT ET DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE \u00bb, 13 March 2020, https:\/\/www.gtcrr-rdc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Note-de-Position-GTCRR_9_Concessions-foresti%C3%A8res_attribu%C3%A9es_par_MEDD_Claude-Nyamugabu-VFin_-sign%C3%A9e-le13-08-2020.pdf<\/a> <\/p>\n\n

[3] actualit\u00e9.cd, \u00ab RDC : les ONG CODELT et OC\u00c9AN d\u00e9posent un recours administratif aupr\u00e8s de \u00c8ve Bazaiba pour obtenir l’annulation de six concessions de Conservation “ill\u00e9galement” octroy\u00e9es par Claude Nyamugabo \u00bb, 9 June 2021, https:\/\/actualite.cd\/2021\/06\/09\/rdc-les-ong-codelt-et-ocean-deposent-un-recours-administratif-aupres-de-eve-bazaiba-pour<\/p>\n\n

[4] http:\/\/afritalia.net\/home.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[5] Loi n\u00b02002-11 du 29 ao\u00fbt portant Code Forestier, 29 August 2002, http:\/\/www.droit-afrique.com\/upload\/doc\/rdc\/RDC-Code-2002-forestier.pdf<\/p>\n\n

[6] D\u00e9cret n\u00b0 011\/27 du 20 mai 2011 fixant les r\u00e8gles sp\u00e9cifiques d’attribution des concessions foresti\u00e8res de conservation, 20 May 2011, https:\/\/www.leganet.cd\/Legislation\/Droit%20economique\/Code%20Forestier\/D.011.27.50.05.2011.htm<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[7] RTBF, op. cit. <\/p>\n\n

[8] Tradelink SPRL, \u00ab Constitution – Statuts \u2013 Nominations \u00bb, 10 September 2014<\/p>\n\n

[9] Email Aleksandar Voukovitch to Arnaud Labrousse, 24 March 2021<\/p>\n\n

[10] In 2018, three of his firms held exclusive contracts with Glencore and Tenke Fungurume Mining. (La Lettre du Continent, \u201cGiovanni Zunino wants to play it safe along Katanga-Zambia copper route,\u201d 11 September 2018, https:\/\/www.africaintelligence.com\/mining-sector\/2018\/09\/11\/giovanni-zunino-wants-to-play-it-safe-along-katanga-zambia-copper-route,108323059-art<\/a> )<\/p>\n\n

[11] https:\/\/offshoreleaks.icij.org\/nodes\/13006110<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[12] El Nino Ventures, \u201cCharges of Fraud, Fraudulent Misrepresentation, Misappropriation of Funds, Breach of Agreement and Claims for USD$ 850,000 + damages against Georges Kavvadias and GCP Group have been filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia by El Nino. The Hearing is now set for November 24th, 2010.\u201d 1 October 2010, http:\/\/www.elninoventures.com\/s\/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=421813&_Type=News-Releases&_Title=Update-on-Activities-in-the-DRC<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[13] \u00ab Contrat de concession foresti\u00e8re n\u00b0001\/2016 du 18 avril 2016 issue de la Conversion de la Garantie d’approvisionnement n\u00b0032\/96\/CAB\/MIN\/ECNT\/96 du 06\/06\/1996, r\u00e9habilit\u00e9e d\u00e9finitivement par Arr\u00eat\u00e9 minist\u00e9riel n\u00b0017\/CAB\/MIN\/ECN-DD\/03\/04\/RBM\/2016, pris en ex\u00e9cution de l’Arr\u00eat\u00e9 n\u00b0 RA 969\/817\/OPP rendu par la Cour Supr\u00eame de justice \u00bb  <\/p>\n\n

[14] Fonds National REDD+ (FONAREDD), \u00ab Document de programme au Fonds National REDD+ Lot n\u00b04 \u2013 Programme de Gestion durable des for\u00eats Version 2020-05-28 [budget affin\u00e9] \u00bb, 28 May 2020, https:\/\/www.cafi.org\/content\/dam\/cafi\/docs\/drc-documents\/DRC-Approved%20Programmes\/CAFI-%20RDC%20-%2020200603_PGDF_AFD_vf.pdf, p.93<\/p>\n\n

[15] Communiqu\u00e9 officiel n\u00b04973\/CAB\/MIN\/ECN-T\/15\/JEB\/2008, 6 October 2008 :<\/p>\n\n

–       Title pre-Forest Code and pre-moratorium, but cancelled by order 063\/04 of 08\/09\/2004.<\/p>\n\n

–       No processing unit.           <\/p>\n\n

–       No area tax payments. <\/p>\n\n

–       Start-up plan absent.<\/p>\n\n

Communiqu\u00e9 officiel n\u00b06500\/CAB\/MIN\/ECN-T\/15\/JEB\/2008, 29 December 2008 :<\/p>\n\n

–       Title non-existent at the time of publication of decree 05\/116 of 24 October 2005 (cf. art. 1 of decree), because cancelled by order 063\/04 of 08\/09\/2004. <\/p>\n\n

–       Processing plant not proven, the portable unit not considered a processing plant. <\/p>\n\n

–       Absence of proof of payment of the area tax for the relevant period.<\/p>\n\n

[16] \u00ab Proc\u00e8s-verbal de conciliation des comptes des cr\u00e9ances des tiers sur l\u2019Etat congolais et modalit\u00e9s de paiement \u00bb, 29 April 2009.  See also \u201cUNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT TRIPLE A INTERNATIONAL, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, Defendant-Appellee,\u201d 2 July 2013, https:\/\/www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov\/opinions.pdf\/13a0171p-06.pdf et Journaliste en danger, \u00ab L’Etat de la libert\u00e9 de la presse en Afrique centrale francophone RD Congo : Sous pr\u00e9texte de la guerre… \u00bb, 2012, http:\/\/afrikarabia.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/JED-Rapport-2012.pdf<\/a>, p.50<\/p>\n\n

[17] \u00ab COUR SUPREME DE JUSTICE SECTION JUDICIAIRE \u2014 CASSATION \u2014 MATIERE DE RENVOI DE JURIDICTION Audience publique du 30 novembre 2007 \u00bb, 30 November 2007, https:\/\/www.droitcongolais.info\/files\/2.36.1._Arret-du-30-novembre-2007-dans-la-cause-PNK-c.-KK-et-consorts.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n

[18] Direction g\u00e9n\u00e9rale des imp\u00f4ts, \u00ab REPERTOIRE DES CONTRIBUABLES ASSUJETTIS A LA TVA, ARRETE AU 28 FEVRIER 2019 \u00bb, February 2019, http:\/\/www.dgi.gouv.cd\/sites\/default\/files\/2019-08\/CDI%20LUBUMBASHI%20TVA.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n \t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCongo Basin Forest\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n Get Involved\n <\/a>\n \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was trying last year to launch its first land-use planning reform, the then Environment Minister Claude Nyamugabo sealed the fate of a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":13845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[24,40,47],"p4-page-type":[14],"class_list":["post-13844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-protecttheenvironment","tag-forests","tag-conservation","tag-drc","p4-page-type-press"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13844"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49819,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844\/revisions\/49819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13844"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=13844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}