thanks for the article- although for the underlined part, my...

thanks for the article- although for the underlined part, my interpretation is that Despite sultan not meeting the conditions, the SNPT etc still negotiated the togo tender, and has now rejected it,
'even so', maybe the article is suggesting that togo strung sultan along while sultan never had a chance??
either that or they are starting anew with negotiations but what could this be for?? a smaller portion of the togo project?
the wording of it is vague...