Algeria to send oil to Lebanon for electricity crisis

Algeria will immediately begin supplying Lebanon with fuel for its power plants, Algerian state radio said in a statement on August 18th, after Lebanon’s electricity company said the day before its supplies were exhausted and the country plunged into darkness.

Lebanon has not had round-the-clock power since the 1990s and cash transfers to Lebanon’s state electricity company, Electricité du Liban (EDL) to cover chronic losses have contributed tens of billions of dollars to the country’s huge public debt – whilst putting cash into the pockets of corrupt leaders through various dubious schemes.

Geopolitically Algeria is aligned to both Russia and Iran and so for many Lebanese the offer comes as a bitter pill to swallow.