The National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NI-CIL) recently accepted an offer made by Hong Kong Golden Telecom Limited (HKGT) to pay US$3M of the outstanding US$5M for the purchase of government shares in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT), sources say.
Stabroek News was told that despite the acceptance, the matter will soon be engaging the attention of cabinet. Sources say that it was felt that it would be wiser to accept the reduced sum than have the matter go to arbitration, which could result in Guyana spending most, if not all of the US$5M in legal costs alone.
The shares were sold to the Chinese firm in 2012. The deal was entered into by the PPP/C administration but only US$25 million of the agreed US$30 million was known to have been paid.
In December, 2016 it was