Panama to file charges over alleged sweetheart port contract

The comptroller of Panama said on Monday that the country will file criminal complaints against officials at CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong conglomerate that runs ports on each end of the Panama Canal, as well as Panamanian government officials, after determining that CK Hutchison’s contract heavily disadvantages Panama, the Financial Times reported.
The announcement comes as CK Hutchison considers a $23 billion sale of operations at the two ports to a consortium including U.S.-based investment firm BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Geneva-based ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co.
A subsidiary of CK Hutchison in 1997 renegotiated a contract that has since cost the country $1.3 billion in revenue, Panama’s comptroller general, Anel Bolo Flores, claimed.
Flores said the Panamanian people and prosecutors deserve an explanation for “such benevolence in a contract that has been abusive to say the least,” the Financial Times reported.