Praia, March 19, 2025 (Lusa) - Cabo Verde's state-owned ports company, Enapor, has filed a lawsuit in Portugal to recover €650,000 in unpaid rent from the Spanish fish processing company Atunlo, which a year ago closed its operations in the archipelago with the loss of 210 workers on the island of São Vicente, in a case that is still in the courts, and also affected Enapor.
Atunlo processed fish for export at Enapor's cold storage platform in Mindelo, where various food products are stored in cold conditions and where fish are frozen, processed and packaged.
Faced with unpaid rent, the state-owned company activated a surety bond that was included in the contract, to cover the missing monthly concession payments, "which exceeded the amount guaranteed by the surety bond, of 650,000 euros," Enapor explained to Lusa.
However, "various conditions for payment were invoked" by insurance company Azuaga that, according to Enapor, violate the insurance principle of covering the loss as soon as it is requested.
The concession contract "required Atunlo to provide Enapor with an irrevocable and unconditional guarantee of the proper performance of the contract on first demand" in the form of the surety bond, "to guarantee the fulfilment of the contract in the event of any eventuality," Enapor stated.
In other words, the insurance contract between Atunlo and Azuaga "provided for the payment of the insured amount to the beneficiary (Enapor) without the need to analyse evidence or justifications beforehand," said the Cabo Verdean state company.
"With no possibility of negotiation, Enapor opted to take the surety insurance to court," it added.
Contacted by Lusa, Azuaga said it could not comment on "matters that are in the judicial sphere."
Atunlo has registered "several defaults" in addition to the concession rents, including "port services related to fish traffic and operation of the cold storage platform," said Enapor.
"A deadline of 30 days has been given to pay the invoices for port services," it said. "With regard to the concession rents, which are in arrears, payment agreements were established that have not been honoured, and Enapor has always been open to renegotiation."
The fish processing plant in Mindelo began operating in 2015, with 51% of its capital in the hands of Atunlo and the rest in two other Spanish companies: 33% with Frescomar (part of the Ubago group) and 16% with Frigrove.
Atunlo announced that its aim was to establish itself as a "reference operator in Europe and North Africa" for tuna products, with canneries among the main customers for the fish processed there.
Tinned and frozen fish accounts for more than two thirds of Cabo Verde's goods exports to the European Union, with Spain the largest taker.
After facing problems in Spain, Atunlo closed a year ago in Mindelo and the operation's 210 workers went through successive lay-offs until November. They were receiving half their salaries, but there have been delays in payment.
Irineu Machado, the chairman of Enapor, said in February that the company plans to reactivate the fish cold storage platform in Mindelo by the end of April, keeping on all the former Atunlo workers.
LFO/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
