The Yemeni government has exposed the pillaging by the Houthi militia of the revenues from Al-Hudaydah port, which amounted to 1.6 trillion Yemeni rials since the declaration of the UN-brokered truce in April 2022.
Yemeni Information Minister, Muammar al-Eryani, stated that the “terrorist Houthi militia continues to mislead both the Yemeni public and the international community by manipulating the staggering figures they loot solely from the oil derivative revenues entering through Al-Hudaydah port.”
He clarified in a press statement that “the revenues generated by the terrorist Houthi militia from the oil derivatives coming through Al-Hudaydah port are sufficient to regularly finance the salaries of state employees and retirees in the areas they forcefully control.”
Al-Eryani pointed out that “the number of ships loaded with oil derivatives that were granted permission and subsequently unloaded their cargo at Al-Hudaydah port since the announcement of the UN ceasefire on April 2, 2022, until Monday, August 14, 2023, reached 157 ships.”
He noted that the total cargo of these ships amounted to “4,098,067 metric tons, equivalent to more than 4 billion liters of oil. 50% of this quantity was donated to the militias for free by Iran and was sold in the local markets at a price of 450 Yemeni rials per liter, with a total value of three and a half billion dollars, equivalent to two trillion Yemeni rials, of which one trillion represents the value of the Iranian oil.”
The Yemeni Information Minister further added that “the actual cost per liter in the areas controlled by the Houthi militia ranges from 300 to 350 rials after adding all burdens to the dollar exchange rate. There is a difference of 100 Yemeni rials between the actual price and the selling price, totaling 400 billion Yemeni rials for the quantities arriving at Al-Hudaydah port since the beginning of the UN truce.”
He highlighted that the “terrorist Houthi militia imposes a fee of 120 dollars in taxes and customs for every metric ton of oil derivatives entering through Al-Hudaydah port, equivalent to 50 Yemeni rials per liter, totaling 200 billion Yemeni rials collected by the militia from the quantities entering Al-Hudaydah port since the start of the UN truce.”
Al-Eryani emphasized that “these figures only pertain to the direct revenues that the terrorist Houthi militia obtained over a year and a half from the oil derivatives coming through Al-Hudaydah port. This is aside from the billions they collect from taxes and customs on foodstuffs, consumer goods, and free gas shipments coming from Iran through the port.”
The Yemeni Information Minister urged “the international community, the United Nations, and the permanent member countries of the Security Council to break their disgraceful silence and fulfill their duties by pressuring the Houthi militia to cease their systematic starvation and impoverishment policies against citizens. He also called for pressuring the militia to allocate the revenues of all ships entering through Al-Hudaydah port to pay the salaries of state employees and retirees in their controlled areas.”
