RAJAB 12, 1442 AH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021 16 Pages Max 19º Min 13º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 18369 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Top Chinese official delivers Lanka Muslims protest COVID Facebook to restore Australia Pogacar in control after 3 President’s message to Amir 5 cremations as Pak PM arrives 11 news, pay media companies 14 UAE Tour climb stage win MPs vow ‘catastrophic’ fund withdrawal bill will not pass Lawmakers slam ‘dangerous’ draft law, blame govt policies By B Izzak bill is not the best option from an economic view- point because the cost of selling assets is higher Zain Group generates revenue of KUWAIT: Lawmakers, spearheaded by National than borrowing. Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem, vowed He said that the cost of selling investments is $5.3bn for 2020 amid challenges yesterday that a government-sponsored draft law estimated at KD 300 million a year, while the cost to withdraw KD 5 billion annually from the coun- of borrowing is just KD 75 million if calculated for try’s sovereign wealth fund will not pass at the the KD 5 billion. The speaker said he believes the Board recommends cash dividend of 33 fils per share Assembly, describing it as “catastrophic”. The fundamental solution to this chronic problem is for KUWAIT: Zain Group, a leading mobile telecom innova- government has said the bill aims to finance cash- the government to announce wide-ranging tor in seven markets across the Middle East and Africa, strapped state coffers, responsible for public reforms and be transparent with the people. announced its consolidated financial results for the full- expenditure, which has been drained due to a Opposition MP Bader Al-Dahoum strongly year 2020, and fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020. The sharp fall in oil revenues. lashed out at the government, saying that it is the group ended the year with a customer base of 47.8 million The government has been facing acute short- same government which failed to manage the customers. falls in the state budget, which in the current and country’s financial resources when oil prices were For the full-year 2020, Zain Group generated consoli- coming fiscal years are projected to hit KD 26 bil- $120 a barrel and squandered public funds by dated revenue of KD 1.63 billion ($5.3 billion), reflecting a lion. Oil income accounts for more than 85 per- granting unnecessary projects to some influential two percent year-on-year (y-o-y) decrease, while consol- cent of public revenues. corrupt people. He said if the government contin- idated EBITDA for the period declined by 8 percent y-o- Kuwait has two reserve funds - the first is the ues with its policies, the country is at risk of going y to reach KD 673 million ($2.2 billion), reflecting a healthy general reserve fund which provides money for bankrupt, adding that MPs will not allow the bill EBITDA margin of 41 percent. Consolidated net income public spending and gets its funds from public to pass. He called on economists to prepare stud- reached KD 185 million ($605 million), down 15 percent revenues, while the second is the future genera- ies for better alternatives that can save the future and reflecting earnings per share of 43 fils ($0.14). tions fund, or the sovereign wealth fund, which generations fund. The Board of Directors of Zain Group recommended a gets its assets by a transfer of 10 percent of rev- Opposition MP Mohammad Al-Mutair said he cash dividend of 33 fils per share for 2020, adhering to the enues every year. But this step has been suspend- will not approve withdrawals from the future group’s commitment made last year of a minimum 33 fils ed due to low oil prices. generations fund unless it is in the form of a dividend for 3 years. Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO Ghanem said the draft law is “extremely dan- loan, provided the government submits a plan on Bader Al-Kharafi commented: “The group’s performance gerous”, adding he believes it will not be how to repay it. MP Hesham Al-Saleh said the for 2020 reflects the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic’s approved by the Assembly. He said the bill aims at withdrawal of KD 5 billion from the sovereign disruption on economic-social activity and the unavoid- using funds that “we do not own” because it is the wealth fund is “catastrophic” and extremely able impact it had on the financial results.” (See Page 9) Zain Vice-Chairman and Group CEO Bader Al-Kharafi property of future generations. Ghanem said the dangerous. Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah. op-ed Kuwaiti, US In a statement, the minister laud- ed the skills manifested by the national forces. He also conveyed to US-Kuwait success troops conclude the personnel who took part in the maneuvers greetings from Their joint drills Highnesses the Amir and the Crown story: 30 years Prince. KUWAIT: The Kuwait Army land On the 60th anniversary of the since liberation force, namely the Mechanized National Day and the 30th anniver- Liberation Brigade, with the partici- sary of the Liberation Day, the min- pation of US Army artillery and air ister recalled the great sacrifices by force units, wrapped up mock battles the army in repelling the enemy that code-named “Liberation-21”. The occupied the country. Moreover, Kuwaiti-US drills were carried out in Sheikh Hamad praised the allied the region of Al-Udairi and patron- forces that backed the national KUWAIT: Defense Minister Sheikh Hamad Jaber Al-Ali Al-Sabah meets troops tak- By Alina L Romanowski ized and attended by Deputy Prime forces in resisting and fighting the ing part in the “Liberation-21” drill. — KUNA US Ambassador to Kuwait Minister and Defense Minister occupiers. — KUNA remember visiting Kuwait in 1991, shortly US mourns 500K after the country’s liberation from the six- Imonth occupation. Like most Americans, I deaths; WHO slams had been consumed by the 24-hour news cover- age of the invasion. Even 6,000 miles away in vaccine hogging Washington DC, I watched in horror as the tragic events unfolded on my television screen. WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden ordered Perhaps most jarring were the images of flags lowered to half-mast Monday after the United Kuwait’s oil wells as they went up in flames, States crossed the “heartbreaking” milestone of black plumes of smoke blanketing the sky so 500,000 COVID-19 deaths, while Britain eyed lift- that you couldn’t tell night from day. The hero- ing lockdowns in the latest sign of global gains ism of the Kuwaiti people while under occupa- against the pandemic. “I know what it’s like,” an tion was impressive, but it was only afterwards emotional Biden said in a national television WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris and her hus- that we learned details of their sacrifices and address, referring to his own long history of family band Doug Emhoff hold a moment of silence during a candlelight ceremony in honor of those who lost their bravery. I have learned much more since my tragedies. lives to the coronavirus on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday. — AFP return to Kuwait last year. Continued on Page 2 President George H W Bush was clear when launching Operation Desert Storm on January 17, 1991: The United States’ goal was not about energy sector. Yamani, dubbed by local tants led by the infamous Carlos the the conquest of Iraq; it was about the liberation Former Saudi oil papers as the “godfather of black gold”, Jackal at an OPEC meeting in Vienna. of Kuwait. Nearly 700,000 US troops took part died in London, said state-owned El- Yamani, who served as oil minister in the war, and many lives were sacrificed in the Ekhbariya television, without giving the from 1962 until 1986, was the first Saudi fight for Kuwait’s freedom, including those of minister Yamani cause. It said he will be buried in the holy representative in the Organization of the nearly 300 American soldiers and over 900 city of Makkah, in western Saudi Arabia, Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Kuwaiti nationals. dies aged 90 where he was born. He was dismissed in 1986 for undisclosed My visit to the Al-Qurain Martyrs Museum In 1973, he was a key player in OPEC’s reasons, apparently over disagreement last month offered me a glimpse into the fight. I RIYADH: Former Saudi oil minister decision to raise oil prices in protest at with the king at the time on oil output learned of the bravery of the Al-Messilah group Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, a key player Israel’s occupation of Arab land seized in quotas. He played a pivotal role in the of Kuwaiti resistance fighters, who battled Iraqi behind the 1973 oil embargo, died yes- 1967, sparking a world economic crisis. nationalization of Saudi Arabia’s oil soldiers as they fired with tank, rockets, and terday aged 90 after a long career that Two years later, he was among oil minis- industry, led today by energy giant Continued on Page 2 laid the foundations of the kingdom’s ters kidnapped by pro-Palestinian mili- Aramco. — AFP Ahmed Zaki Yamani 2 Established 1961 Wednesday, February 24, 2021 Local Kuwait reports eight new COVID deaths, 1,015 cases Hospitalized patients at 10,859, including 146 in ICUs KUWAIT: Kuwait yesterday reported Coronavirus Emergencies, and decided ers in the workplace by no more than 50 1,015 new coronavirus cases and eight the following: percent.