The Independent Petroleum Group (IPG) is suing Eritrea for Kuwait Dinars 19 million (apx. $65 million) due payments for petroleum delivered to Eritrea.
IPG resorted to the Court of Arbitration in London hoping “to obtain an arbitration award confirming that Eritrea and the Petroleum Corporation of Eritrea… should immediately pay IPG the value of delivered petroleum products.”
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported that “IPG has been supplying petroleum products to the Petroleum Corporation of Eritrea (PCE) for more than 11 years.”
The Eritrean government is facing difficulties in meeting its international financial obligations due to severe shortages in hard currency.
IPG hopes to collect the due amount from Eritrea’s international assets, but the Eritrean government’s assets are registered under the names of individuals and dubious entities run by its extensive ruling party network.
Kuwait, though not as close as Qatar, is among the few Arab countries that until recently had close relations with the Eritrean Government.