The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) signed on Thursday a grant agreement with an estimated total value of $200 million to provide 250,000 metric tons of oil derivatives to Yemen.
The Saudi side was represented by SDRPY Supervisor General Ambassador Mohammad Al Jaber and Yemen’s government was represented by Minister of Electricity and Energy Eng Mana bin Yamin.
This step comes under the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and in response to a request by Yemen’s government to assist it in operating its power plants.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Yemen’s Minister of Finance Salem bin Salem bin Braik.
SDRPY has already delivered the first batch of oil derivatives worth $30 million out of the $200 million to operate more than 70 power generation plants in Yemen.
Al Jabir said that the new grant agreement reflects the bonds of brotherhood and solid ties between the Kingdom and Yemen.
He pointed out that this step is an extension of the Kingdom’s development and economic support to Yemen in all fields and aims to enhance and support Yemen’s economy in a way that enables the government to fulfill its other commitments.
Mana, for his part, hailed the Kingdom’s efforts through SDRPY to secure the grant, which directly contributed to increasing the ability of government institutions and the stability of electric power in various public and private institutions and the industrial sector, in addition to boosting the commercial activities in all governorates.
He added that providing electricity has also contributed to improving the basic services provided to citizens, mainly security and social stability.
Mana further noted that the grant had a direct impact on providing electricity in Yemen and maintaining good oil reserves, as well as disbursing amounts of oil derivatives in an organized and stable manner.
This was reflected in increasing operation periods of electricity plants to reach more than 20 hours per day in some governorates.
The new grant underlines the Kingdom’s keenness to achieve security, stability and development for Yemenis.
It is an extension of previous grants totaling $4.2 billion, the latest of which was $422 million that was paid over a course of a year and contributed to achieving economic stability, boosting the government’s budget, increasing the citizens’ purchasing power and improving security conditions. It also helped in boosting the service sector, improving life conditions, increasing the rate of daily service hours for the operation of power stations and ensuring the self-operation of power plants in the country.
Similar previous grants had contributed to lowering government expenditure partially by alleviating the public expenditure on the government and securing operational budget and wages for the Public Electricity Company with an amount exceeding $21 million between May 2021 and April 2022. They also doubled the plants’ production capacity to reach a target of 2,828 gigawatts per hour during their operation time.
