The Egyptian government is to appeal against the decision by a Cairo court to halt the export of gas to Israel, London based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat reports today. According to the report, the Egyptian authorities have decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the ruling by the administrative court suspending delivery of gas.
It is believed that the Egyptian government will notify the Israeli government of its decision, after Jerusalem requested clarifications from Egypt yesterday evening.
The authorities in Egypt demanded that execution of the court ruling should be frozen until an appeal was filed. Meanwhile, gas continues to flow to Israel as normal.
The Egyptian government's intention to appeal against the court decision is consistent with the announcement released yesterday by Ampal - American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL), controlled by Joseph (Yossi) Maiman, which reported to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that "it has been reported to the shareholders in EMG that the Egyptian government has declared its intention of appealing against the ruling." The announcement also said that the supply of gas via EMG's pipeline to Israel was continuing undisturbed. Ampal owns 12.5% of EMG (East Mediterranean Gas Co.), which it bought from Maiman in an insider deal.
Yesterday, the Egyptian administrative court handed down a provisional ruling ordering the Egyptian government to suspend the export of natural gas to Israel. The lawsuit was brought by a group of opposition lawyers, who argued that Egypt's natural gas reserves were insufficient for gas to be exported. They also cited the low price for the gas in the agreement with Israel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 19, 2008
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