Portland Cement Zambia has remained as a disputed property in between the Ventriglia family and Finsbury Investments. On one hand, the official records suggest that the factory is owned by Finsbury Investment with a stake of 58% share and on the other hand, the Ventriglias have constantly refused to believe the same and are claiming themselves to be the actual owners. Under such context, it should be considered that action speak louder than words.

When the Portland Cement Zambia was under Finsbury Investment in 2013-14 and 2014-15, there were remarkable progress seen in reports as well as the revenue of the firm. The forecasted output of the factory was being easily achieved and there were cases where the output and the revenue of the factory made history in Zambia.

When the management was taken over by the Ventriglias in April 2015, it was the first time that the factory had to bear losses. Moreover, there was a high sense of dissatisfaction among workers and the revenue of the factory faced a serious downfall. A majority of the funds was then transferred to external accounts and in no time a prosperous company was left as a place of misery.

Now the question which needs to be answered is- Who is the actual owner of the Portland Cement Zambia? Is it the Ventriglia family, who have simply looted the factory and have brought this factory on the verge of its extinction, or is the Finsbury Investments, who has nurtured the factory and had set it up as an integral part of Zambia’s infrastructure development? The answer lies in the question itself. Any person who has been witnessing the scenarios at Portland Cement Zambia will easily realize that Finsbury Investments is the actual owner of the factory as nobody would ever harm a company which generates revenue for them. For the Ventriglias, they are just interested in extracting the money from Zambia and depositing the same in some external bank accounts.

Who would have imagined a year earlier that the fate of the Zambezi Portland Cement is going to meet a sad ending? A factory which looked as one of the most promising in the whole nation has suddenly been weakened by conspiracy, loot and mismanagement and is waiting to be shut down in the days to come. The Ventriglia family has not only made this factory a place of hopelessness, but has also converted it into something which cannot be restored or reused. All precious belongings of the factory such as the trucks, the machines and the real property are now passed on to companies which stands as sham for the Ventriglias. The result is, even if the Ventriglias do not get this company, they will have the properties of the company vested in their hands automatically.

The trap was set for Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani in early June, when the conspirators took over the factory and planned to have the Former Finance Bank Chairman arrested, so that he cannot intervene in affairs of the factory. By the time, Dr. Mahtani could look into this matter, adjustments were made, officials were bribed and planning was mapped. All the revenue which was being generated by the factory was now flowing directly out of Zambia and to the offshore accounts. The new management group had also figured out ways to reduce the operating expense by firing workers and reasoning the same with lack of work opportunities within the factory. After the whole script was ready, they finally appealed to the Lusaka High Court and thought of making one last attempt to steal the ownership. Sadly, they failed once again and then they decided to play the last round by diversifying the resources of the factory to dummy companies which were created by the conspirators themselves.

So, what we are currently looking at is a scenario where the Zambezi Portland Cement is going to be wasted within a matter of next few months. Or, will there be a miracle and the dead will rise, once again?

From the time the Ventriglia family has put its dirty hands on the management of the Zambezi Portland Cement, the unit has become impure and a waste. With production being packed up in December 2015, it is being regarded that the Ventriglias family is trying to loot the remains and windup the factory very soon. This is the story of an organization which was thriving a year ago and within the matter of a few months, the factory is now on the verge of meeting its end.

Zambezi Portland Cement Factory was a vision which was established by the Finsbury Investments and was nurtured by the leadership of Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani. Sadly, the venture was looted by the minority shareholders, whose greed for money and power deserted the hope of Zambia and its citizens. As per reports, it has been confirmed that after failing to steal the ownership of ZPC in the High Court, the Italian Mafias have managed to create fictitious companies and are trying to transfer all the resources of the factory to those companies. The 43 trucks of Portland Cement Zambia has been now transferred to Miloto Transport, a dummy company which has been formed by the Ventriglias. Similarly, most of the real estate property of Portland Cement Zambia has been transferred to another dummy company named as Astrea Investments Limited. The scenario clearly reflects that the Italian Mafias are done with looting the Zambezi Portland Cement Factory and are now looking forward to make last minute transactions in whatever that can be grabbed in the factory.

However, a point which was never considered by the Mafias is that they are not the owners of Zambezi Portland Cement and hence, they do not have the right to dissolve a factory which they do not own. Facts will remain facts, no matter how much money the conspirators pour over the same.