KCM Under Fire for Profit Revelations The leaked video of a Vedanta boss Anil Agarwal vilifying the Zambian government for selling Konkola Copper Mines for a song has continued to elicit angry reactions from a cross section of Zambians. Agarwal was captured on camera bragging the Zambians sold KCM to his company for US$25 million and that the multinational company was raking in excess of US$500 million annually. Action Aid board member Patrick Shindano said the statements by Agarwal made very sad reading and called for the people that sold the mine to be brought to justice. Shindano said it was very clear that the Vedanta bosses held Zambians in contempt despite reaping a huge chunk of wealth from the Zambian mining sector without paying the due share to the locals. And FDD President Edith Nawakwi said she suspected that some officials in the Ministry of Finance connived with investors leading to such scenarios. Vedanta has repeatedly claimed that they are making losses at KCM. In the video released by activists from Foil Vedanta, the Vedanta boss, and 69% owner, Anil Agarwal is captured telling a large audience how he bought Konkola Copper Mines for just $25 million, rather than the $400 million asking price, and receiving loud cheers when he states that the company brings in $500 million in profit each year. Foil Vedanta had previously released figures from Vedanta’s annual reports showing that the company made $362 million in 2013, but Vedanta CEO Tom Albanese had disputed this during his visits to Zambia in February, repeating the previous claim that KCM was making a very low profit or a loss due to high operational costs and taxes. zambiareports/2014/05/14/kcm-fire-profit-revelations/
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 07:41:17 +0000