UN: Houthis set up a parallel economy in the fuel sector, collect YR272 billion in six months

The United Nations said that the Houthis have set up a parallel economy in the fuel sector that brings them billions of riyals that go to enrich their leaders and fund their war effort, explaining that the Houthis have maintained this economy since their control of the capital, Sana'a, and several provinces in September 2014.

The recently released report of the Panel of Experts on Yemen stated that before the truce, consumers' requirements were mostly met by bringing oil from ports supervised by the Yemeni government by land across the front lines, yet the Houthis were collecting customs revenues again, in addition to other taxes and illegal fees at their checkpoints. Since April 2022, oil imports through the port of Hodeidah have increased dramatically.

According to the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), a total of 69 ships arrived at the port of Hodeidah between April 1 and November 30, 2022, carrying 1,810,498 tons of oil derivatives.

In return, 535,069 tons of fuel derivatives were imported between January and December 2021 on 30 ships, while about two ships on average in the post-truce period, that is, from January to March 2022, carried 39,315 tons of oil derivatives per month, and about nine ships were carrying in the post-truce period, that is, from April to November 2022, with a load of 226,312.25 tons per month, which indicates a significant growth of 475.63% in imports through the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef.

The UN report said that the Houthis seized the opportunity to make money, as they collected YR271.935 billion of customs revenue for the period from April to November 2022, which is the revenue that the government lost. Gasoline was sold on the black markets in the range of 22 thousand and 24 thousand per can of 20 liters, which led to an artificial shortage.

Under the Stockholm Agreement, the Houthis had to collect customs duties on oil imports through the port of Hodeidah, on the condition that they pay the salaries of public servants, but no salaries were paid. In addition to the customs duties collected by the Houthis, the unjustified increase in the price of fuel increased their financial resources.