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Published : 23 Aug 2022, 08:41 PM
An investigation into the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation or BPC’s irregularities in purchases and issues with an audit have left a parliament committee ‘astounded’ by its findings.
“There is very little transparency and accountability at the BPC,” ASM Feroz, chairman of the parliamentary committee, told the media after a meeting on the state-run company’s situation on Tuesday.
“We are shocked by what we have seen. There were irregularities in purchases and objections in the audit. These objections were not settled properly. Those who allegedly signed off on these corrections said they had not done so. They also did not listen to the Anti-Corruption Commission.”
According to the working paper of the meeting, the BPC claimed that the state-owned company was being “properly run” under the organisational structure, so there was no window for institutional mismanagement and irregularities.
The meeting also discussed a special audit report for the 2012-13 financial year which mentioned that the BPC had yet to finalise its annual accounts past the fiscal year in breach of financial discipline.
The audit office said institutional actions must be taken against those who are responsible for not closing annual financial accounts in time.
In the 2012-13 financial year, the BPC imported more fuel than its storage capacity and left additional ships operational, which brought about losses of Tk 500 million.
It sustained another Tk 2.48 billion financial damage the same year due to bank overdraft rather than spending from its funds, according to the then Comptroller and Auditor General.
The Office of the CAG complained that an ineffective internal audit division and lack of proper supervision impacted BPC’s internal management, which in turn affected the organisation’s overall management and performance.
Tuesday’s meeting recommended adjusting fuel prices with the international market. The committee recommended the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources take steps to increase the BPC’s storage capacity for refined and unrefined fuel, and put measures in place for emergencies.
The meeting also recommended swift moves to automate fuel oil operations in the country and pushed for annual reports before formulating provisional and final financial accounts.
On the ministry’s response to questions about fuel price hike, Feroz said: “There is a mixed feeling about fuel price hike. We wanted to know why the prices were raised. The ministry said it was done in keeping with the neighbouring countries, or else there could’ve been [mismanagement] with fuel.”
He said the ministry plans to adjust fuel prices soon.
Feroz mentioned that the government is holding talks to import fuel oil from Russia on government-to-government or G-to-G purchase method.
“The ministry is positive about importing fuel. We don’t have the technology to refine Russia crude oil. So we will bring in refined oil, the ministry has said.”
