In reality, all ministries and government offices should be subject to an inventory (including cars). However, considering the gargantuan levels of corruption and mismanagement at all levels, a secondary audit is imperative. Asking the people responsible for the embezzlement to count the inventory is a recipe for more subterfuge.

A secondary audit of the inventory would be a good job for the revolutionaries, many of whom have accounting and computer degrees. As outsiders they would be independent, and its a good method to enfranchise them in the transition process while generating trust through transparency. International assistance by experienced accountants of the process may also increase the Yemeni auditors skill levels and employ-ability. Of course the US will be embarrassed by how much of its intended CT aid was stolen, diverted and/or resold, but sunlight is good for everybody.

Its very important however to standardized the inventory process regionally and from ministry to ministry–from the beginning. Starting with compatible processes, methods, computer systems and software is essential. For example, Yemen’s years long difficulty in generating stats and paperwork on the Somali refugees arises in large part from technical obstacles generated by using different accounting methods, incompatible databases and different computer systems, both vertically and horizontally. This impending pitfall is easily overcome with a little forethought at this point.

al Sahwa, President directs to count properties of military

Alsahwah.net- Yemen President Abdu-Rabo Mansour Hadi has directed on Wednesday the Defense Ministry to form technical committees to count the properties of the army in a move that precede the reconstruction of the military and end the division.

Meanwhile, the government tasked the Oil and Mineral Minister, Hisham Sharaf, to appoint a new director-general of the Oil Petroleum Company after the resignation of the former director in response to waves of protests by the employees of the company.

According to the Yemeni News Agency, Saba, military commanders held on Wednesday a meeting presided by the Defense Minister Ahmed Nasser Ahmed. The meeting discussed the counting of the military’s properties and how to halt the squandering of the public resources.

Also see “Fixing Broken Windows”: Security Sector Reform in Palestine, Lebanon, and Yemen Carnegie 2009

Bloomberg: Yemen’s government plans to spend 2,111 billion rials ($9.8 billion) this year, according to draft budget plans reported by state-run news agency Saba. The draft expenditure, which requires the approval of parliament in Sana’a, represents a 17 percent increase over the 2011 budget that was approved Dec. 5, 2010. Yemen has been using last year’s budget for the first quarter of this year as unrest forced President Ali Abdullah Saleh from office last month and repeated clashes undermined business activity.

Government recognizes the state budget for fiscal year 2012 by 2 trillion and 672 billion and 740 million rials
[06 / March / 2012]

Sana’a (Saba) -

Council of Ministers approved in its weekly meeting today, chaired by Council President Brother Mohammed Salem Basendwah the draft state budget for fiscal year 2012, and projects of independent and attached budgets and special funds budgets and the economic sector and laws linked to .. And the allocation to the House of Representatives to complete the necessary constitutional procedures.

The Council instructed the Minister of Legal Affairs and Minister of State for the House of Representatives and the Shura Council in coordination with the Minister of Finance to follow up those actions.

The estimated resources of the state budget at both central and local levels for the current year 2012, the amount of two trillion and 111 billion and 129 000 453 thousand, from various sources or resource for linking resources to the last year of $ trillion and 519 billion and 589 thousand, and an increase of 9.38 percent.

The estimated use for 2012, the amount of two trillion and 672 billion and 740 000 773 thousand, distributed at the gates of various budget, compared to connect to the year 2011 of $ trillion and 835 billion and 956 million riyals, an increase of 6.45 percent.

And thus, the estimated deficit in the state budget for fiscal year 2012, a 561 billion and 611 000 320 thousand riyals.

With regard to the draft budgets of the units of independent and supplementary and special funds have been estimated resources and uses balance sheets of individual units and attached to special funds that follow the Unified Accounting System for fiscal year 2012, $ 500 billion and 68,000,231 thousand, and excess activity underway with $ 110 billion and 402 000 779 thousand riyals , while the estimated resources and uses for the budgets of independent and attached units and special funds that follow the accounting system of government for fiscal year 2012, $ 34 billion and 442 000 302 thousand riyals.

With regard to budgets and sector units the general economic nature production were estimated allocations for each of the uses and resources, current and capital for the financial year 2012, $ 4 trillion and 233 billion and 51,000,214 thousand, and excess activity underway for these units is estimated at $ 237 billion and 351 000 400 thousand riyals.

The government contribution of capital projects in the budgets of public sector units of the productive character of $ 61 billion and 345 000 021 thousand riyals.

He estimated the draft general budget of the state total funds for the budgets of public sector units character service for each of the uses and resources, current and capital for the financial year 2012, $ 175 billion and 76,000,897 thousand, and excess activity underway for these units of $ 8 billion and 421 000 350 thousand, the government’s share of the total This surplus of $ 3 billion and 558 000 020 thousand riyals.

While the estimated deficit for the current activity units of the public sector character service 33 billion and 911 million riyals, and the contribution of government capital projects in the budgets of these units 31 billion and 151 000 653 thousand riyals.

The estimated total funds for the budgets of units of the mixed sector for each of the uses and resources, current and capital for the financial year 2012, $ 143 billion and 980 000 085 thousand riyals and a surplus in its current estimated 10 billion and 400.1 million riyals, the government’s share of the total surplus of one billion and 299 000 072 thousand riyals .

And upon his draft state budget for the current year to absorb new jobs for 25 percent of those registered with the Ministry of Civil Service and Insurance until 2010 and of the 50 thousand employees and an employee a cost of $ 28 billion and 820 million riyals, in addition to 11 thousand jobs earmarked in the budget of 2012.

This included the draft budget the costs of the launch of annual increments for the years 2005-2010 AD to state employees in agencies that have not yet been implemented for a total amount estimated at about 65 billion riyals, and the annual increment for the year 2011, about 21 billion riyals, in addition to the adoption of adjustments seniority according to the appointment and qualification about 19 billion and 200 million rials , and address the grievances of transport to the overall structure of about 6 billion riyals.

It also included a draft budget of 2012 cases approved for social security number if the effect of 500 thousand annual rate of about 22 billion and 300 million riyals and implemented in 2011 to waive the cost of benefits for the remainder of last year that did not happen, at a cost of SR 14 billion.

The Council authorized the brother of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to prepare the financial statement of the draft budgets for the fiscal year 2012, in line with general trends included in budgets to accommodate the largest amount of notes of all what can be raised queries about the budgets.

The preparation of the draft state budget for 2012, in response to the growing negative effects of many variables existing and new domestic and external, embodied most notably locally in the events that affected the country in 2011 and the ensuing large financial burden on the budget this year, whether in the form of the results of the implementation of the actual or obligations of the inevitable, while at the external level Vohmha economic consequences of the revolutions that took place in some Arab countries and the consequent decline in the size of the flows of remittances, loans and capital from abroad and other indicators that led to the disruption of major macroeconomic indicators, namely non-exchange-rate stability and high rates of inflation and declining foreign exchange reserves and others.

And taken into account in the preparation of estimates of the draft budget comprehensiveness of the imperatives and obligations that can not be avoided and those needed to restore the economic situation to the state of stability that existed before the events in 2011, and stimulate economic growth within the framework of the theory of the strong push for investment and growth strategy focused on the infrastructure in basic services to the sectors of leaders such as electricity and roads and water.

And preparation of the draft budget was based on a number of economic and financial decisions of the Council of Ministers on the program of financial and administrative reform and rationalization of expenditure and maximize revenue to the government’s program of national reconciliation which was granted under which the trust of the House of Representatives.

He stressed the Council of Ministers not to exceed the size of the actual net cash deficit through the implementation of the general budget for 2012, the amount of local funding can be mobilized from sources other than inflationary.

The Council re-consider the situation of economic units, whether subsidized or those that achieve a reduction in surplus of its activities which will reflect negatively on the State’s share of the surplus of current activity, which contrasts with the aim of the existence of these units .. Stressing in this regard speed work on the revision and correction policies and procedures for the conduct of activities and tasks of these units, as well as to review the financial and administrative systems and to ensure the rationalization of expenditures and the development of resources and control provisions on financial transactions in line with government policies and objectives and content of the program of comprehensive reform.

Yemen LNG and Total Gas LIFT gas shipments redirected to Korea
[18 / February / 2012] Saba

Agreed Yemen LNG, Total Gas & Power to increase the number of shipments transferred by 20 shipments per year to Korea during the years 2012.2013 and 2014 m due to the continued low gas prices in the U.S. market.

Under the new agreement which was signed in Paris on the fourteenth of February, the ongoing presence of the Minister of Oil and Minerals Engineer Hisham Sharaf Abdullah, will be selling LNG to Kogas, according to the current price of the market.

The agreement for sale and purchase of gas, concluded in 2005 between the Yemen LNG, Total Gas & Power has stated that the moving exports Yemen LNG mainly to the markets of the Gulf of Mexico and Western Europe, but since the beginning of production in 2009, is converted to 15 shipment annually to the Asian markets with higher economic returns.

A statement issued by the company and received the Yemen News Agency (SABA) a copy of it to raise the number of shipments transferred to 35 shipments per year will contribute to raising the company’s revenue of Yemen LNG and the Yemeni government significantly.

He pointed out that Yemen LNG, Total Gas & Power will undertake Brphi the local market about 150 tons of gasoline during the years 2012.2013 and 2014.

It is noteworthy that Yemen LNG exported 60 percent of its production during the year 2011 to the Asian market, and 15 percent to the European market and 25 percent to U.S. markets.

The company of Yemen LNG in the same year imported 50 tons of cooking gas to help meet the needs of the domestic gas market.

In this regard, the General Manager of Yemen LNG Francois Ravan that the company’s reputation as a source of liquefied natural gas well-respected senior buyers in Asia, where you get Korea, half of our production of LNG, we also supply China, Japan and India on a regular basis.

“I did not expect the economic markets lower demand for natural gas (LNG) in the U.S. market, but because of the strong support of its partners, shareholders in the company, to take this business opportunity to convert shipments to Asian markets, which would help in raising the value of the proceeds of the company and the government of Yemen in the time most in need. “

9/23/11 HRF: Cables released by Wikileaks reveal that Slobodan Tesic, a Serbian arms dealer, contracted in 2009 to sell $95 million worth of sniper rifles, antiaircraft guns, and other arms and ammunition to the Yemen Ministry of Defense. As scores of unarmed protestors continue to be killed by the Yemeni government in renewed violence this week, possibly by these same weapons, Human Rights First renews its call for the United States to actively pressure the networks that enable brutal violence against civilians and grave human rights abuses.

Tesic has previously been connected with weapon sales in Liberia, Libya, Iraq, and elsewhere. He is subject to a U.N. travel ban for violating an arms embargo in Liberia. In 2002, he shipped “enough bullets to kill the entire population of Liberia,” enabling the former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s alleged war crimes. The arms dealer is also connected with weapon sales to Iraq and to terrorist regimes. Despite Tesic’s clear embargo violation and connection with atrocities, he was able to work with the Albanian Ministry of Defense to bring weapons into Libya in 2010, and contract with the Yemeni government in 2009. The influx and proliferation of weapons in the region has helped fuel significant violence against civilians and other human rights abuses.

From Chatham House, the full ( PDF report is here):
The recent political crisis in Yemen has created a cycle of hyperinflation, currency depreciation and disruption to the supply of basic goods. This is already having a serious impact on the 10.3 million Yemenis living in poverty, with the prospect of worse conditions to come.

Yemen’s economy is in thrall to a complex, intertwined network of elites that control the oil industry, imports, processing, and packaging and distribution of goods. Many members of these elite groups are key actors in the current crisis.

The country’s economy is dominated by the production and export of crude oil, which generates 70–80 per cent of government revenues and most of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. As a result, Yemeni consumers are highly vulnerable to shifts in international commodity prices, domestic oil output, the country’s overall fiscal position and domestic security.

There is a need to reinforce existing social protection mechanisms and bolster humanitarian aid to ensure the availability of, and access to, basic commodities for the country’s most vulnerable people. Western donors are demanding a swift political transition as a precondition for resuming the bulk of aid spending, but the transition process has already been lengthy and contested, and any resolution is likely to be protracted and complex.

The current ‘wait-and-see’ approach to the situation being taken by some members of the international community will hamper a swift and effective response to the economic crisis, and is likely to exacerbate the human cost of the crisis.

Raxanreeb: U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos said millions of people in Yemen face “a daily struggle for survival” due to conflict, poverty, drought, soaring food prices and collapsing state services.

They include 100,000 displaced by recent fighting in the south, 300,000 uprooted by a previous insurgency by Shi’ite rebels in the north, and thousands of refugees from the Horn of Africa, she said….Rising insecurity has forced U.N. agencies and other humanitarian organisations to leave or cut back their staff levels in the Arab country, the U.N.’s Amos said. Accurate information on what is happening is becoming increasingly hard to gather, she added.

“Yemen is the poorest country in the region, and has suffered chronic deprivation for years. If we don’t act now, the situation could become a catastrophe,” Amos said in a statement.

“In neighbouring Somalia, we have seen what happens if warnings go unheeded, and too little is done in time to stop a crisis. Let us not repeat the same mistake in Yemen,” she added….Meanwhile, across the Gulf of Aden in Yemen, a third of the population is suffering from hunger, and health facilities are overcrowded or simply not working, according to the United Nations.

Children have been hit hard by the fallout from the growing political chaos. In some parts of the country, one in three are malnourished – among the highest levels in the world, the U.N. says. And tens of thousands are missing out on their education due to the closure of schools, some of which are sheltering displaced families.

At least 94 children have been killed and 240 wounded by gunshots or shelling since civil unrest began in Yemen earlier this year, the executive director of the U.N. children’s fund (UNICEF), Anthony Lake, said last week.

“The children of Yemen should be busy going back to school at this time of year. Instead, they face armed men rather than teachers, bullets instead of books,” he said in a statement. “The country is sinking deeper into a humanitarian crisis.”

A joint international appeal for $290 million to respond to humanitarian needs in Yemen this year is so far 60 percent funded, according to the U.N’.s Financial Tracking Service.

CH: Anti-government protests in Yemen are complicating Nexen’s efforts to renew its licence for the country’s Masila oilfield.

Nexen may lose its licence for Yemen’s Masila oilfield to a local operator, officials in Yemen said, as the Canadian company’s efforts to renew the deal are hindered by political turmoil and the government’s urgent need for cash.

The loss would be a blow to Nexen, which produces around 35,000 barrels per day or more than a tenth of its global output from the field and whose licence for it expires in December. The Calgary-based company has also seen production problems at its North Sea assets this year.

Nexen has been working to renew the licence for another five years. This has proven difficult, especially during months of anti-government protest in Yemen against President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s refusal to accept a mediated plan to quit power.

“It (a licence extension) is not going to be easy . . . It is a difficult process under a political crisis,” a senior government official told Reuters.

“In case of no agreement, they (Nexen) will have to hand over to a local company. . . . There is not going to be any stoppage of oil production,” the source added.

Industry sources have suggested some government members believe the deal with Nexen brings in less revenues than the project should generate for the state.

Nexen said it was still talkng to the government.

“Discussions continue with the government of Yemen on the extension on Block 14. We will not be making any comments until those talks are completed,” a spokesman said in an e-mail.

“Production and shipping activities continue unaffected,” he added. “And we remain focused on the safe and efficient operation of our facilities as we have for the past two decades.”

Nexen produces from its two blocks in Yemen – Masila (Block 14) and East Al Hajr (Block 51) – and exports almost all of it from the Ash Shahir terminal on the southern coast of the country, mainly to Asia.

Block 14 had the country’s biggest proven oil reserves at the end of 2010, according to data from Yemen’s Petroleum Exploration and Production Authority (PEPA).

The government source did not name the company that would take control of Masila should Nexen be unable to renew.

Another industry source based in Yemen and familiar with the matter said the government would like to pass operations at Block 14 to Yemen-based SAFER E&P Operations Company (SEPOC), which is the operator of Maarib Block 18.

“It looks like there is a mood within the government for SEPOC to take over Block 14 in Masila,” the industry source said.

An official at SEPOC confirmed the possibility but said the final decision would be made by the Oil Ministry.

Nexen began production in Masila oilfield in 1993 and operations have been largely unaffected during the eightmonth political crisis, except for a brief halt to production in May because of a worker strike.

Government forces have violently suppressed protests over Saleh’s refusal to accept a mediated handover plan and Nexen said it has temporarily closed its office in Sanaa, which has witnessed much of the violence.

The company has over 900 employees in Yemen, more than 90 per cent of whom are Yemeni nationals.

World powers fear that chaos in Yemen, home to alQaeda’s most powerful regional branch and adjoining the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, could threaten oil shipping lanes and raise the risk of militant strikes on Western targets.

The upheaval has hit the poorest Arab country’s modest oil industry hard. An attack by tribesmen forced the country’s main oil pipeline to shut for more than three months earlier this year.

The pipeline was repaired in July and the flow of Maarib crude resumed, enabling the Aden refinery to produce fuel again, although Gulf-based traders say the country still imports some 2-3 cargoes of fuel per month.

WB Suspends $542 Million to Instable Yemen Yemen Post:

The World Bank suspended hundreds of millions of USD in aid to Yemen as from July 28 due to the political and security situation as the dueling protests and associated severe crises continue across the republic.

Independent sources cited a WB statement as saying that the decision came in harmony with the Bank’s rules that call for such a procedure in complicated circumstances to avoid negative impacts on its programme course in any country.

The Bank is sponsoring 21 projects in Yemen with $882 million, $542 million out of which has not been released yet, the source reported, citing the statement as saying that the Bank will be ready to resume its activities normally in the country when the situation returns normal.

Yemen Post: Republican guards killed a 14-year old boy in Yemen’s Taiz province on Wednesday, where a massive demonstration was held coinciding with protests in other cities to urge the youth-led protesters to finish their revolution and to refuse external mandate or interventions.

Locals at Street 60th at the city’s entrance said republican guards fired at passengers inside a bus killing the teen and injuring others. The incident took place amid insecurity in Taiz, which saw deadly clashes between the army and armed tribesmen in the past weeks.

In other Taiz related news, Haykel Saed Corp is negotiating between the families of the protesters killed by forces under the supervision of lunatic security chief (transferred from Aden after several bloodbaths) Abdullah Qiran. There’s no resolution yet as the families are demanding a trial. Qiran was also charged with the murder of Ahmed Darwish tortured to death in Aden jail. One major outstanding protesters’ demand is the purge and reformation of the security forces.

CAPE TOWN — South African- manufactured Ratel armoured infantry carriers have been photographed in strife-torn Yemen, leading the Democratic Alliance (DA) to call for an investigation by the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC).

The Ratels were apparently being operated in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, by soldiers who had defected to protesters demanding the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s rule.

The presence of the vehicles either means SA authorised their export or that another country sold Ratels to Yemen, which would constitution a violation of the end- user certificate.

DA defence spokesman David Maynier said in a statement yesterday that NCACC chairman Jeff Radebe should launch an investigation into how the converted Ratels, previously operated by the South African National Defence Force, had found their way to Yemen.

“Over 100 pictures of demonstrations in Yemen were recently published by Reuters and the Associated Press. The series includes a number of pictures of a converted Ratel infantry vehicle in Yemen,” Mr Maynier said.

“The NCACC’s latest annual report records that R373,8m worth of conventional arms were sold to Yemen in 2010. Conventional arms exports to Yemen last year included R239,4m worth of Category A conventional weapons, which are described as major conventional implements of war that could cause heavy personnel casualties.”

Mr Maynier was ejected from the National Assembly in March when he questioned whether SA had supplied sniper rifles to Libya and asked Mr Radebe how it felt to have “blood on his hands”.

Mr Maynier yesterday there was no evidence suggesting Ratels were exported directly to Yemen, but some were reportedly sold to Jordan.

He said: “The Paramount Group, in co-operation with the King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB), produced a converted version of the Ratel infantry vehicle in Jordan; and the infantry vehicle depicted in the photos appears to be the converted version of the Ratel infantry vehicle produced by the Paramount Group and KADDB in Jordan.

The NCACC annual report in April showed significant military hardware sales to North Africa and the Middle East. Last year R68,9m worth of conventional arms were exported to Libya, R7,7m to Syria and R373,8m to Yemen. This included Category A weapons such as explosives, large-calibre arms and automatic weapons, guns, missiles, bombs, grenades and tanks.