黑洞社区

Carillion鈥檚 Qatari arm has entered liquidation.

Carillion (Qatar) LLC was the company responsible for redeveloping downtown Doha ahead of the 2022 World Cup, a contract awarded to the defunct contractor by Msheireb Properties in 2011. 

Ahmed Tawfik Nassim, a partner in the Doha office of the Paris-based accountant Mazars, is handling the liquidation, which is being managed completely separately from the main liquidation. The Official Receiver will have no role in the liquidation process.

The collapsed contractor鈥檚 work in Qatar has been a major topic of discussion following its implosion, with former boss Richard Howson saying the firm was owed 拢200m by Msheireb for the work in Qatar and labelling it as one of the biggest reasons why the firm went bust.

He said the contract remained unpaid for 18 months with Carillion owed 拢200m at the time of its collapse.

Howson told MPs when giving evidence to the Carillion inquiry in February: 鈥淭he customers changed the architect three times. They issued 40,000 new drawings within eight months. It鈥檚 been a very difficult contract.鈥�

Howson said he visited the project in Qatar at least 60 times in the past six years in order to collect cash.

鈥淚 felt like a bailiff,鈥� Howson said. 鈥淲orking in the Middle East is very different to working anywhere else. On the Qatar contract, because of the size of the contract, they hold performance bonds which are on demand. If you wilfully abandon they will pull the bonds even though they haven鈥檛 paid.

鈥淭he only way to ensure that you are paid reasonably in the Gulf is through personal relationships with your customers. There is no point writing nasty letters, no point appointing lawyers, it鈥檚 about being there and the give and take of delivery and receiving cash.鈥�

Work on the job was due to be completed last May but Howson said it would not be completed until the end of this year.

Following Howson鈥檚 evidence, a Msheireb spokesperson said the company disputed the claims, which were also made by his interim replacement Keith Cochrane at the select committee hearing.

The spokesperson said: 鈥淒espite ongoing project delay, Msheireb Properties continued to pay Carillion; however, Carillion did not pass these funds on to its supply chain, leaving over 40 subcontractors unpaid.

鈥淭his resulted in Msheireb Properties absorbing significant additional costs as we were forced to pay Carillion鈥檚 supply chain directly and engage a third-party contractor to ensure that Carillion鈥檚 original project was delivered.鈥�

Msheireb then sent a letter to the MPs running the inquiry, which showed the depth of the dispute over the 拢200m. 

The developer told MPs it 鈥渆ntirely disputes鈥� Howson鈥檚 claims and that he was 鈥渕isleadingly鈥� referring to 鈥渢he value of construction work remaining to be completed鈥� as well as 鈥渢he value of claims relating to further delays鈥�.

Msheireb said Carillion actually owed it 鈥渁 similar amount of money鈥�, including 鈥済ood faith overpayments鈥� made 鈥渢o assist Carillion鈥� and direct payments Msheireb made to subcontractors who Carillion had not paid.

After receiving the letter, MPs labelled Carillion鈥檚 directors as 鈥渇antasists鈥� who had come up with a 鈥渓itany of excuses鈥�.