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The move to privatise the Standard Asiatic Oil has hit a snag as the Privatisation Commission (PC) has failed to finalise the procedure of assessing the company's assets and liabilities.
The government decided to privatise the four state-run gasoline companies in 2004 despite opposition from workers and employees of the petroleum sector.
But any progress in the process could not be made due to lack of experience and bureaucratic red tape. Finally, the government dropped three companies from its list of disinvestment and decided to go ahead with the privatisation of Standard Asiatic Oil.
The four companies are: Padma Oil, Eastern Lubricants, Standard Asiatic Oil and the Meghna Petroleum, which are run under the Petroleum Act 1974.
The government owns 50.35 per cent of shares in Padma Oil, 65.92 per cent in Eastern Lubricants and 50 per cent in Standard Asiatic Oil. The Meghna Petroleum is fully state-owned.
The World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to provide financial and technical support to the government for selling the shares of the four gasoline companies, sources said.
The WB committed to offer Bangladesh government $ 1.0 million for offloading the shares of these companies and the ADB promised to provide $ 150,000 as technical assistance to expedite the process of privatisation.
Despite taking many steps, the PC failed to execute its privatisation plan within a set time frame. The PC in an order in February 2004 asked its appointed chartered accountant firm to complete the evaluation immediately.
Currently, 17 companies have been listed for privatisation and it will take more time to complete the whole process, PC sources said.
The companies are: Dosha Extraction Ltd, Chittagong Chemical Complex, Khulna News Print Mills Ltd, Rangpur Sugar Mills Ltd, Bangladesh Cold Storage, Amin Agencies Ltd, Procurement and Sales Organisation, Lumber Processing Complex, Partical Board and Veneering Plant, Standard Asiatic Oil Company Ltd, Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha, Rupali Bank Ltd, Fisheries Net Factory in Chittagong Fish Harbour, Fisheries Net Factory in Comilla, Fisheries Net Factory in Mongla, and Fisheries Landing and wholesale market.
Sources said higher authorities have instructed the energy ministry to work closely with the PC to complete all the official formalities as soon as possible to disinvest the oil companies.
According to the decision of the authorities, the PC decided to begin the evaluation of the assets and liabilities of the oil companies.
"Still, the evaluation process of Standard Asiatic Oil has not been completed. It will take us more time to reach the final stage of evaluation of assets and liabilities," PC sources said.
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