Page 7 - DMEA Week 49 2022

DMEA SECURITY & POLICY DMEA

Ayan, a friend of Erdogan, attended the same
high school as the Turkish leader.
“Ayan’s companies have established inter-
national sales contracts for Iranian oil with for-
eign purchasers, arranged shipments of oil, and
helped launder the proceeds, obscuring the oil’s
Iranian origin and the [Quds Force’s] interest in
the sales,” the US Treasury, which oversees the
implementation of American sanctions, said in
a statement.
The businessman has arranged business con-
tracts to sell Iranian oil worth hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars to buyers in China, the United
Arab Emirates and Europe, the statement added,
saying he funnelled the proceeds back to the Ayan attended the same high school as Turkish President Erdogan (File Photo)
Quds Force.
Ayan’s son Bahaddin Ayan, his associate a Gibraltar-based holding company and a vessel.
Kasim Oztas and two other Turkish citizens The Treasury designations freeze any US
involved in his business network were also des- assets of those persons and companies desig-
ignated by the US Treasury, along with 26 com- nated and generally bar Americans from dealing
panies including his ASB Group of Companies, with them. ™

COMPANIES
Germany reportedly eyeing investment in

green hydrogen project in Namibia

AFRICA GERMANY’S government is considering pro-
viding financial assistance for a €10bn ($10.5bn)
green hydrogen project in Namibia, Bloomberg
has reported, citing sources familiar with the
matter.
KfW, the German state-backed development
bank, is in talks with the Namibian government
and the German-South African consortium
Hyphen Hydrogen Energy about a possible
state guarantee or loan for the project, said the
sources, who asked not to be named as the dis-
cussions are private.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck
hinted at financial support for the project dur-
ing a visit to Windhoek on Monday, Decem-
ber 5, according to the media agency. He also
remarked that the investment sum of around
€10bn “almost equals the annual gross national
product of Namibia.”
The project will be located near the old colo-
nial port town of Luderitz on Namibia’s Skeleton
Coast. It will use the country’s abundant solar
and wind power to produce green hydrogen,
which would then be turned into ammonia and Habeck (R) discussed the hydrogen project at a meeting with Namibian
shipped to Germany. President Hage Geingob (L) on December 5 (Photo: Twitter/@BMWK)
After a shortfall of natural gas following Rus-
sia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, coun- building a second domestic ammonia terminal
tries in Europe and particularly Germany are and earlier this week signed a memorandum
rushing to secure alternative sources of energy with Hyphen that could see it offtake up to
from across the globe, writes Bloomberg. 300,000 tonnes a year of green ammonia, which
German energy giant RWE is currently is particularly suitable for transport by ship.

Week 49 08•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7