On 6 February, Bloomberg published a report by K. Oanh Ha titled ‘The Odyssey of the Queen Majeda’. The report found that as much as 40% of the fuel refined domestically and being imported into the country under a government subsidy program — or about $5 billion a year — is leaking out through illicit trade, with much of that coming from Russia. It further argues that this fuel is being diverted to countries in Europe that have banned imports on those same products. Quoting Libya’s Audit Bureau chief Khaled Shekshek, the report provides details about Libya’s subsidized fuel program, which he said ‘has metastasized in the past few years’, jumping by more than 70% to 62 billion dinars in 2022, from 36 billion dinars in 2021.
Read the full report here.