AVZ Discussion 2022

Was going to post something about an Ali G sketch from that pic but don't want to get the Qataris offside too :confused:

It's hard to get a handle on just how in-grained and shameless this sort of behaviour is over there and in trying to understand how they can get so bent out of shape when called out on it, I came across the following article. 20 years old and a fairly long read, but perhaps offers some insights into what feels a bit like pushing the proverbial up hill, if anyone feels like cheering themselves up.


https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item:2888341/view

"...The word “corruption” implies deviation from a norm, a falling away from accepted standards. Hence, when certain types of illicit transactions become normal to the point that people do not bother to hide them, it is not satisfactory simply to label them as “corruption” or even “crime.” This is especially so when the people who run the state are themselves the main organizers of such activity. As we have seen, evidence from Nigeria and Kenya suggests that outrageously corrupt practices have become routine at the very heart of government in some of the continent’s most important countries...."


"...The problem is that the laws in Africa’s dysfunctional states are rarely enforced, or only very selectively. Worse, the authorities theoretically responsible for their implementation may themselves break these same laws continuously and routinely. This is really what Africa’s so-called failed states are—not so much places where the state has ceased to exist, but where the formal trappings of statehood serve purposes of strategic deception, rather like the stage-sets in a theater. In one of these countries, you would have to be naïve to believe that the law, the police, or the central bank really fulfills the role in theory allotted to it. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, GuineaBissau, and dozens of other African states cannot be regarded as functioning according to international norms. But each one nevertheless has an actual, substantive system of politics and governance—not to be confused with the formal system, although the real and the legal are intertwined. Anyone who wants to live or do business in a failing state needs to learn the real rules. In each case, the actual conventions of economic, political, and even social life will certainly involve patterns of activity regarded by many international observers as corrupt. In broad swaths of Africa many types of corrupt practice are not the deviant behavior of a small minority—they are a standard mode of transacting political and financial business...."
 
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"....Some practices considered as corrupt occupy a
prominent place in such a schema, and corrupt
politicians are not above invoking an imagined
authenticity to excuse their behavior. According to
the Liberian writer Emmanuel Dolo, people who
have served as state officials are expected by their
own families to enrich themselves through corrup-
tion. Otherwise, he writes, they are accused of fail-
ing to do what he calls “the cultural thing”: to steal
money from the national treasury, an action they
may justify on cultural grounds...."


Sounds like someone we know :unsure:
 
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Jongo

Regular
From the 2:32 point of the translation.

"Congo was being asked for $10 billion, likely to settle for $5 billion after judgment in Washington."

5B USD is roughly 2.15 AUD per share, and I would be happy with that.
 
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".... It is true that every European colonial power did
indeed set up a centralized administration in each
colony and, to greater or lesser extent, incorporated
African rulers in systems of indirect rule. It is now
clear that in most cases this involved freezing many
of the dynamic processes of local government and,
also in many cases, permitted local rulers to dis-
pense with many of the more subtle checks and bal-
ances that had traditionally operated, producing
what the African scholar Mahmood Mamdani refers
to as “decentralized despotisms....”


Again highlights why some of these people (yes, looking at you Celestin Kibeya ) in local governance in the DRC might feel empowered to not only embezzle funds, but also feel able to flout the written laws with such impunity....to the great detriment of the country as a whole.

As tough as it might be to eradicate overnight, you'd expect the US will want assurances that the potential damage from this sort of behaviour be minimised, if they're going to pour billions of investment into the country. And part of the reason they clearly stated they won't be dealing with this lying cockroach/Cominiere, but with the centralised Government.
 
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Bonsoir

Regular
".... It is true that every European colonial power did
indeed set up a centralized administration in each
colony and, to greater or lesser extent, incorporated
African rulers in systems of indirect rule. It is now
clear that in most cases this involved freezing many
of the dynamic processes of local government and,
also in many cases, permitted local rulers to dis-
pense with many of the more subtle checks and bal-
ances that had traditionally operated, producing
what the African scholar Mahmood Mamdani refers
to as “decentralized despotisms....”


Again highlights why some of these people (yes, looking at you Celestin Kibeya ) in local governance in the DRC might feel empowered to not only embezzle funds, but also feel able to flout the written laws with such impunity....to the great detriment of the country as a whole.

As tough as it might be to eradicate overnight, I expect the US will want the effects of this sort of behaviour minimised, if they're going to pour billions of investment into the country. And part of the reason they clearly stated they won't be dealing with this lying cockroach/Cominiere, but with the centralised Government.
I can’t work out how the population tolerate this, they should eradicate the scum responsible for their poverty.
 
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Skar

Regular
From the 2:32 point of the translation.

"Congo was being asked for $10 billion, likely to settle for $5 billion after judgment in Washington."

5B USD is roughly 2.15 AUD per share, and I would be happy with that.

Would that settlement be tax free? I would be happy to sell my shares for $2.15, claim the CGT Discount, offset some losses and pay my fair amount of tax.... and in 5 years when the project is scaled up to 10-20Mtpa churning out 3Mtpa of sc6 I'll probably be kicking myself for not getting a royalty.
 
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I can’t work out how the population tolerate this, they should eradicate the scum responsible for their poverty.
Couldn't agree more and perhaps this opportunity for serious US involvement, followed by a rising tide of Western investment in their mineral wealth, will finally be the change the downtrodden people of the DRC deserve..
 
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timb89

Regular
From the 2:32 point of the translation.

"Congo was being asked for $10 billion, likely to settle for $5 billion after judgment in Washington."

5B USD is roughly 2.15 AUD per share, and I would be happy with that.

Which video sorry mate?
 
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Jongo

Regular
Which video sorry mate?
Mute22 posted the video translation earlier this afternoon with the following post. The actual video was a TSE page or 2 above the translation post.

 
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Jongo

Regular
And here is the video, also posted by Mute22.

 
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wombat74

Top 20
I can’t work out how the population tolerate this, they should eradicate the scum responsible for their poverty.
It's Africa . Wind the clock back 300 years .
 
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Winenut

GO AVZ!!!!
I can’t work out how the population tolerate this, they should eradicate the scum responsible for their poverty.
If they could they probably would

But what you just highlighted is exactly the problem in the DRC and other countries in the world

Even if the population realises the situation and even if the general population doesn't tolerate it in any way shape or form....they are unfortunately dispossessed of any mechanism or power to instigate or achieve the required change

Entrenched powers and corruption and a lack of access to truly democratic rights denies the general population an opportunity to de-couple from the status quo

The scenario is repeated world over unfortunately
 
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Samus

Top 20
Meanwhile at the Chinese embassy in Kinshasa
1750936980948.jpeg
 
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timb89

Regular
Mute22 posted the video translation earlier this afternoon with the following post. The actual video was a TSE page or 2 above the translation post.


Appreciate it.

They mention AVZ being received by Felix on April 1, surely they mean Kobold?
 
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Pokok

Regular
From the 2:32 point of the translation.

"Congo was being asked for $10 billion, likely to settle for $5 billion after judgment in Washington."

5B USD is roughly 2.15 AUD per share, and I would be happy with that.
You forgot the 1 in front of the 2
 
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SilentOne

Regular
From the 2:32 point of the translation.

"Congo was being asked for $10 billion, likely to settle for $5 billion after judgment in Washington."

5B USD is roughly 2.15 AUD per share, and I would be happy with that.
You might be, but I certainly would not be happy with it - begrudgingly I would endorse going all the way with the ICSID if that the figure on offer.



Regards,

SilentOne.
 
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timb89

Regular
You might be, but I certainly would not be happy with it - begrudgingly I would endorse going all the way with the ICSID if that the figure on offer.



Regards,

SilentOne.

You are not playing the numbers.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation v. Ecuador (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/11)
  • Final Award: In October 2012, the tribunal awarded Occidental Petroleum approximately $1.77 billion (plus interest) for Ecuador’s unlawful termination of an oil exploration contract.
  • Payout/Settlement: In 2015, Ecuador and Occidental reached a settlement. Ecuador paid $980 million to Occidental, a significant reduction from the original award, after negotiations and an annulment proceeding that partially upheld the award. The settlement was publicly reported as a resolution to avoid further enforcement actions.
They received half the payout as was awarded. Equadors GDP is 1.6 the size of DRCs. Equador is 40 places better ranked on the corruption index than DRC.

This is assuming the ICSID agrees with our claim and gives us the full 10 Billion. Occidental Petroleum were asking for 3.4 Billion (awarded 1.77). The effective payout was 25%.

If we are given 5 Billion USD settlement, we take it. Effective payout of 50%.
 
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SilentOne

Regular
You are not playing the numbers.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation v. Ecuador (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/11)
  • Final Award: In October 2012, the tribunal awarded Occidental Petroleum approximately $1.77 billion (plus interest) for Ecuador’s unlawful termination of an oil exploration contract.
  • Payout/Settlement: In 2015, Ecuador and Occidental reached a settlement. Ecuador paid $980 million to Occidental, a significant reduction from the original award, after negotiations and an annulment proceeding that partially upheld the award. The settlement was publicly reported as a resolution to avoid further enforcement actions.
They received half the payout as was awarded. Equadors GDP is 1.6 the size of DRCs. Equador is 40 places better ranked on the corruption index than DRC.

This is assuming the ICSID agrees with our claim and gives us the full 10 Billion. Occidental Petroleum were asking for 3.4 Billion (awarded 1.77). The effective payout was 25%.

If we are given 5 Billion USD settlement, we take it. Effective payout of 50%.
Well if it comes to a vote the answer is still no
 
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