A team involving staff from the Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) and the Ministry of Mineral Resources (MIREME) detected, yesterday, evidence of smuggling of fuel at some of Galp Mozambique's gas stations in Maputo city.

Domingos Muconto, Deputy Director-General of Taxes at the AT, says that after an inspection activity at the Galp pumps in the Aeroporto district, it was found that the company follows irregular procedures in the declaration of the commercialized product, using two types of invoicing, namely electronic and manual.

"This company's pumps have been following an irregular procedure, and it appears that the electronic billing line is the one that must be declared, while in the manual one it cannot be accurately determined because it is outside the tax loop," he said.

Speaking to journalists during the inspection of a Galp Mozambique gas station, Domingos Muconto explained that the fuel billed at a single pump is used to justify the sales of three other gas stations belonging to this company.

"There are indications that the sales stated are the ones that were probably made at a single pump, while the others are not mentioned, because when we go there they say it is a branch office.

It is being proven here by measurements that a small part comes into the headquarters and the rest is sold without probably any declaration to the tax office," he said.

The responsible still that this is proof that this sector is sensitive and that the level of smuggling of fuels is high, and there are also indications that Galp puts on the market a lot of fuel outside the normal circuit.

The deputy director-general for Taxes at the AT said that extensive work is also underway, aimed at gauging the reliability of the licenses presented at least two Galp pumps.

"This work is taking place because there are elements that allow us to doubt even the authenticity of some of their licenses," he stressed.

It should be noted that some national press reports a few days ago stated that Galp was selling gas cylinders.

The source mentioned that the company has been doing manipulations via kilogram, but the volume of the content is not stipulated. The matter is currently with the National Institute for Standardization and Quality (INNOQ).