Fuel company Enacol’s smaller shareholders plan to take advantage of the next general assembly meeting, scheduled for May 22, to propose the sale of the property known as “the general director’s mansion,” located in Mindelo’s Alto do Fortim district. The shareholders believe that the sale of the mansion could help Enacol at a time when the company is facing treasury problems.

Due to their limited access to documents, Enacol’s smaller shareholders admit that they are not fully aware of the company’s real overall situation. Even so, they say, it is public knowledge that the company has registered a certain degree of growth, although in large part based on credit it conceded to clients. “It should be said that Enacol surpassed Shell because the latter refused to continue supplying [water and electricity utility] Electra, which had accumulated an enormous debt. Enacol then began exclusively supplying Electra, which now owes it more than 700 million escudos. And Enacol also has other considerable debts to receive, from the State of Cape Verde for example.”

According to A Semana Online’s sources, the recently retired general director of Enacol proceeded in this manner because he benefited from the sales, whether or not the company managed to receive payment for them. “The general director was paid a salary and benefits that varied in accordance with sales. So it was in his interest to expand activities, even if it were credit-based. But this strategy leaves a lot to be desired because often the company was forced to rely on its competitor, Shell, in order to honor its commitments in terms of supply.”

Because of this, say the smaller shareholders, the company is currently facing a serious liquidity problem, which could be mitigated by the cash sale of the mansion and with the rescinding of the rental contract Enacol has on a Praia house that costs the company 120,000 escudos per month and is used but one or two days a month by the general director.

Rui Vera-Cruz, the administrator who represents Enacol’s smaller shareholders, stands behind these affirmations and guarantees that the issue will be brought upa t the May 22 general assembly. “In an e-mail sent to all of the directors prior to leaving the company, Luís Pitorro Soares said that the house has seen an increase in its value and that there are individuals interested in purchasing it for more than a million euros. If this is true - it could be a bluff to justify the nearly 90 million escudos invested in purchasing, restoring and furnishing the Alto do Fortim mansion - I believe that the best thing to do is for the company to sell this asset.”

Vera-Cruz believes that the new general director will not be opposed to residing in another house the company owns in Mindelo’s nearby Alto de São Nicolau neighborhood. The mansion, he says, “is a sign of ostentation that Cape Verdean companies cannot afford to give off. I’m going to use the general assembly meeting to show that it is unjustifiable for Enacol to have a house like that while the company is experiencing treasury problems.”

Luis Pitorro Soares: “I did not ask for compensation”

Meanwhile, in response to his alleged request for compensation, published by A Semana, Luís Pitorro Soares clarifies that he never made any such request. “The administrative council is the entity that makes all decisions regarding whether or not to pay a supplementary bonus to that which is stipulated in my contract. So what could I base any kind of request for compensation for my management on?” asks the former general director of Enacol.

Soares affirms, however, that various other directors and officials with excellent job evaluations had received bonuses for 2006 equivalent to four months’ worth of wages. “Are they asking for compensation because they believed they were entitled to more? Not only is this ridiculous, it doesn’t make any sense, does it?” he says.

According to Soares, as his contract neared expiration, he met with the company’s director of Human Resources to check if his unused vacation days would be paid, in addition to any possible compensation called for in Cape Verdean law for employees working under term contracts. “I never imagined that simply because it was me asking what I did or did not have a right to by law, stories like this would emerge in the news media, which only goes to show, once again, just what envy, mediocrity and small-mindedness are capable of. I’m trying to distance myself from this gossip because I would like to take home only good memories of Cape Verde,” he concludes.

Source: A Semana