SANA'A: In keeping with Yemen President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi's wave of new governmental appointments as he tries to break away from the old guard, Republican Decree no 25/2012 nominated Yasser Hussein al-Harazi as Yemen Economic Corporation's (YEC) new General Manager, replacing Hafiz Mia'iad. Sources told Bikyamasr.com that a furious Mia'iad had entered YEC's premises with armed thugs, demanding that an extraordinary meeting be held to discuss the matter of his demotion, warning that he would not comply with President Hadi's decision. Several employees also said that gunmen were later seen carrying boxes of documents, loading them onto several trucks. He also went around offices, marking down the names of those who said to be agreeing with al-Harazi's new appointment, threatening them with reprisals. When confronted, Mia'iad denied the allegations, saying he had only enter YEC to pack up personal belongings, stressing that at no time did he or his “bodyguards” threaten anyone. YEC is a huge corporation composed of 15 departments each dealing with different sectors of the industry, such as vegetables, seeds, furniture, medicines, salt, clothes, building materials, real estates, livestock, poultry, dates, readymade houses, IT, computers, mobiles and even bread. A recent financial report revealed that the profit margin in some sectors was as much as YR. 300 billion per year ($1.5 billion) with some reports saying that the lowest income revenue registered for all sectors stood at YR. 500 billion per year ($2.5 billion). It is worth mentioning that the YEC was freed from all ministerial supervision years ago, with President Saleh charging his loyalists with the running of its affairs. Former Minister of Finance Saif al-A'sali wrote in one of his articles “it is not possible to know the profits registered by YEC since Saleh appointed his allies to avoid revealing its revenue margin, submitting its profits at zero to the Parliament in its annual report.
