Leaked documents show millions of Euros are being transferred from Libya’s Central Bank to a Turkish company named SSTEK.
SSTEK Defense Industry Technologies Inc. was established in 2016 as a 100% subsidiary of the Turkish Defense Industry. The company established modern companies or partnerships with existing companies to support military development.
The documents showed that the GNA Minister of Interior, Fathi Bashagha, asked the Central Bank Governor Al Sadeeq Al-Kabeer to transfer approximately 169 million euros to the SSTEK account.
The Interior Ministry also addressed the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, asking him to cancel a previous letter stating the issuance of a letter of credit. Instead, the governor was requested to transfer 169 million euros directly to the SSTEK account.
The documents also show that the head of the MoI’s financial department, Colonel Mohammed Frada, addressed the head of the CBL’s banking operations, asking him to complete the transfer of the amount to the SSTEK account.
The Head of Libya’s Audit Bureau, Khaled Shakshak, addressed the Interior Minister, stressing that due to the state of emergency in the country, exceptions will be given and imports from SSTEK will be exempted from regular measures.
It is worth mentioning that the Defence Industry Executive Committee of the Turkish Defense Industry is headed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is BMC, which owns 55% of the shares of SSTEK.
BMC was established in 1964, it has manufactured more than 300.000 vehicles to date and provided a 10 billion dollar added value to the Turkish economy with export operations to more than 80 countries.
BMC also manufactures the “Kirpi” multi-purpose armoured vehicle which was seen arriving in the dozens in the Libyan capital Tripoli months ago.