In an interview with Reuters quoted by Mining Weekly, Petra Diamonds’ CEO Johan Dippenaar said that the company is owed about $25 million in value added tax (VAT) refunds by Tanzania.
“We are not getting paid at the moment. The historical figure owed is $16 million”, Dippenaar said, adding that current VAT is an additional $9 million.
Last week, Petra announced a net loss of $203.1 million in fiscal 2018 (ended June 30, 2018), a figure that takes into account the Kimberley Ekapa Mining (KEM) joint-venture, which Petra sold to Ekapa Mining in July 2018. Excluding the KEM joint venture, Petra reported revenue of $495.3 million – up 25% year-on-year. Petra also commented that company CEO Johan Dippenaar will step down after 12 years as the company’s chief.