The Sheshinski committee has appointed a subcommittee to review the issue of financing which allegedly derives from its main interim recommendations. The appointment is in response to claims made by Tamar license partner Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva.
The appointment of the subcommittee is in recognition of the importance of natural gas deliveries to the Israeli economy by 2013, and the need to avoid delays in developing the Tamar field. Delek will be asked to provide the subcommittee as soon as possible all the relevant figures that explain and demonstrate the immediate financing problem of Tamar, especially the findings about the alleged connections to the interim recommendations of the Sheshinski committee.
In addition, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz has instructed Ministry of Finance director general Haim Shani to assist the committee members, if the analysis of the findings provided require further work by the Ministry of Finance beyond the committee's area of responsibility.
After the Sheshinski committee published its interim recommendations two weeks ago, Delek claimed that they would harm the financing for the development of Tamar, which began a few months ago. Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau said yesterday that that the recommendations had already harmed the financing of Tamar's development, even though top banking sources say behind closed doors that the recommendations have no effect, and they do not think that they will affect financing for the project.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 22, 2010
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