Ministry Of Transport Denies Railway Shares Selling Allegations

Ministry of Transport Denies Shares Selling Allegations

A few days ago, Romurs revolving around Egypt selling shares of Egyptian Railway and Monorail circulated Social Media which sent Egyptians up in a frenzy.

This conflict on social media led the Ministry of Transport and the Egyptian cabinet to release a statement assuring Egyptians that shares of the project will not be sold on the stock exchange.

The statement strongly denied the allegations and advised Egyptians to not fall for rumors which aim to divide public opinion and create a state of chaos.

The statement also offered some clarification regarding the railway system and foreign participation in its operation and building.

It also also provided some clarifying facts to help ease the backlash that the authorities encountered:

•  The implementation of the Ministry of Transport’s projects is carried out by consultants and Egyptian national companies, with the help of foreign expertise in which Egyptian companies and consulting offices do not have sufficient experience.

 

• The Ministry of Transport cooperates with the Egyptian and international private sectors in managing and operating a number of projects in order to gain the required experience in managing these projects, it also employs an Egyptian workforce of not less than 90%.

 

• The offering of the shares of some companies on the stock exchange, such as Alexandria Container Handling, Damietta Container Handling, and Port Said Container Handling, comes within the framework of the state ownership policy document, which was based on what the community called for the necessity of maximizing the participation of the international, Arab, or Egyptian private sector in various projects.

 

• As for the railways and the metro, cooperation is carried out in the field of management and operation under the usufruct system, provided that the operator bears all operating expenses and the depreciation charge in return for a percentage of the profits to the Railways Authority. The railway, metro, or electric traction facilities were not offered.

 

• We also confirm that all that was reported about the tendency to sell some of the assets of the light electric train and the electric express train to pay off the implementation loans is completely false.

 

• The Ministry of Transport did not intend to sell any of the assets to pay off the loans for the implementation of its projects, as all projects are carried out according to detailed feasibility studies and financing plans that were scheduled in coordination with all concerned authorities in the state.

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