Business

Burundi has withdrawn oil import permits from 53 companies as they failed to import oil for "several years," a senior official at the ministry of trade, posts, industry and tourism has said.

"We have decided to withdraw import permits from 53 oil companies because those companies have spent several years without making import orders," said Jeremie Banigwaninzigo, Director General at the Burundian ministry of trade, posts, industry and tourism. According to Banigwaninzigo, the oil companies have broken Article 16 of the ministerial ordinance stipulating that "Each importer of oil products who spends three months without ordering oil products is considered as having stopped his importing activity." Citing the article, the senior official said that the withdrawal of the import permits takes place at the beginning of the fourth month.

 Banigwaninzigo said that before taking the decision of suspending the 53 companies from importing oil products, the ministry in charge of trade organized meetings with oil companies to remind them regulations on oil imports. The Burundian presidential decree signed on June 25, 2008 stipulates that to get an oil import permit, companies shall have a deposit in bank of at least one billion Burundi francs (about US$705,000).

 Banigwaninzigo said Burundi uses between 6.5 million and 7 million liters of fuel per month.