Lebanese Tobacco responds to allegations by Arab Tawheed Party head

The Public Relations Department of the Lebanese Tobacco and Tobacco Inventory Department issued a statement in response to what was issued by the head of the Arab Tawheed Party, Wiam Wahhab, today, Tuesday, in an interview with Al-Jadeed, and the Inventory Department is concerned with clarification.

He added, “First: The inventory management is a public institution subject to Lebanese laws, protected nationally by its success, and transcending regions throughout the country, and it will certainly not care about the nonsense of some.”

Second: We return and express our great astonishment at such statements that are not supposed to be issued by some public interest prosecutors, while emphasizing our welcome to any auditing body to certify the annually audited numbers from the most important auditing companies.

Third: What the so-called Wahhab discussed about production machines is a source of pride for the administration and for the whole country, as some of these machines were purchased by the administration. Some of them were approved by the Council of Ministers and His Excellency the President, others by successive finance ministers, and others deposited by the private sector under tenders and contracts that protect public money and secure its interest with the approval of the Ministry of Finance, embodying the successful partnership between the public and private sectors, which led to an increase in the pace of The production reached 120,000 boxes per month, and it led all the international tobacco companies to compete and manufacture their most important tobacco products in the management laboratories, and the state treasury was supplied with hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fourth: The purchase of filters and other raw materials involved in the manufacture of cigarettes is subject to transparent public tenders in accordance with laws and regulations under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, after which the winner is awarded according to books of conditions that take into account the interest of the treasury in the first place and the continuity of the vital Regie facility.

Fifth: The Director General of the Regie is entrusted with this institution and is subject to the laws of the state and exercises his powers in accordance with its provisions. He still stresses in all his statements that the profits of the institution are the property of the state and as a result of the tremendous effort exerted by its employees and the decision to include them for others, does not deserve a response. Since Seklaoui took over the Regie’s administration, the net profits of the treasury amounted to more than 8 billion dollars.

Sixth: The management of inventory, which is. It is one of the most successful state institutions, by everyone’s admission, including the ambassadors of major countries. It was and still is under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese judiciary in responding to campaigns against it from the haters and those with well-known goals. It recognizes the judiciary as a fair sword to silence the trumpets of truth, and it reserves the right to resort to the arc of justice to prevent any confusion. Or tarnish her successful career.

Seventh: Finally, let the former minister know that he will not reach his goal and what he aims for.

And he concluded, “May God protect Lebanon from the likeness of men.”