Happy Monday!

This week we cover the President attending the UN General Assembly in New York while also covering an investigation into financial investigations in Suriname’s National Energy Company.

President Santokhi’s geopolitical dealings.

• President Santokhi was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. He met South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol and discussed the ties between the two countries and the intensifying of these ties.

• They highlighted the long history between the two countries, and improving bilateral cooperation between the nations. They soon intend to sign a cooperation agreement.

• Even prior to independence, Surinamese citizens were part of the Korean War in the 1950s. President Yoon Suk-Yeol indicated that there is significant potential for cooperation and an interest to cooperate.

• President Santokhi indicated an interest in cooperation with Suriname’s openness to business and indicated that Suriname’s national resources offer lucrative investment sectors and indicate an inspiration for growth similar to South Korea.

Santokhi at the U.N General Assembly plus seeking investment in the country;

• Before heading to the UN, Santokhi presented investment opportunities to businesspeople of Surinamese-origin in New York at the Suriname business forum in New York.

• President Santokhi expressed concern at the UN for society’s concerns with crises that are diverting spending from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• He highlighted that many large and populous countries are being left behind due to these global challenges.

• He went on to highlight Suriname’s commitment to SDGs integrating them in national policies and providing financial support to vulnerable groups, even in more remote areas of the country.

• He stated that as a carbon-negative country, Suriname renewed a belief in its responsibility to protect the planet and contribute to assisting future generations with reaching SDGs.

Plus he expressed a need for multilateralism in the global sphere.

• President Santokhi expressed concern for little positive change in aspects of peace, prosperity, and climate in the world. He emphasized that noble goals are often unfulfilled and that business as usual cannot continue.

• He highlighted that global crises are affecting all nations and cannot be addressed singularly and that collective responsibility is needed to tackle these challenges effectively.

• He called for multilateralism that is more fair and effective which emphasises international law and cooperation. He also stressed prioritizing global goals over national interests and the need to overcome ideological differences to deal with a rapidly changing world.

The Energie Bedrijven Suriname (EBS) investigated by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

• The Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal investigation into potential financial irregularities at the EBS in Suriname. The EBS is the Energy Companies of Suriname which delivers gas and energy to most of the Surinamese population.

• The investigation found that contracts were given to a company, Velka Vak Group without open tenders, against governance practices. The group was repeatedly approached to do business on behalf of the EBS without consideration of other businesses for the jobs. Furthermore, there was a lack of contracts drawn up for much of the work.

• They also found that there were irregularities in purchasing of equipment due to the splitting of orders among several suppliers which resulted in higher than necessary costs.

• The investigation found that the Board of Commissioners did not properly oversee procurement processes which led to financial inefficiencies with purchasing orders.

• The Board initially indicated that they had no knowledge of the concerns brought by the Public Prosecutor’s Office but changed tone when confronted with evidence that they themselves signed.

• While the investigation did not find evidence of criminal behavior by the EBS management or the board, there are concerns about the manner in which the organization spends. Particularly the need to spend money on unneeded equipment such as a large number of cables that remain within the supplier’s warehouses and refusing to buy equipment simply based on the lowest cost supplied.

• The investigation puts more pressure on the company to be financially responsible.