Khan: No decision yet on Patriotic’s refinery bid

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Energy Minister Franklin Khan says there is no update at this time on whether or not Patriotic Energies and Technologies Limited has succeeded in securing US$500 million to acquire the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery and port.

In a Whatapp exchange with Guardian Media on Tuesday, Minister Khan was asked to give an update on the revised submissions made by Patriotic Energies last Friday.

He responded, “Nothing at this time.”

Patriotic, a company wholly owned by the Oilfield Workers Trade Union, provided detailed submissions last week Friday to prove it had secured financing for the acquisition and restart of the refinery.

The submissions are being perused by Finance Minister Colm Imbert who will determine whether Patriotic has indeed secured the necessary financing.

Earlier this year, Patriotic’s offer was rejected by the government because it failed to show it had the necessary financing to acquire and restart the refinery.

On January 20, Minister Imbert gave Patriotic Energies and Technologies Limited 15 days to prove it had secured the money. That deadline ended on Friday.

Patriotic’s director Ozzi Warwick in a statement said the submissions were delivered in writing at 1:42 am on February 5.

He said then, “We are confident that our very detailed submission will meet his favour as it demonstrates our ability to finance the acquisition price of US$500 million for Guaracara Refining and Paria Fuel Trading.”

Several new players are lined up to enter the bidding process if the government returns to the open market. Among them is the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers. Coordinator of the Confederation Jai Leladharsingh said if Patriotic fails in its bid, then the government should resume the bidding process and all financial transactions should be transparent and above board.

Financial analyst Ved Seereeram said the government was wasting time on Patriotic saying the company had enough time to secure funding.

It’s been two years that Patriotic has been waiting to acquire the refinery and port which was once owned by the now-defunct Petrotrin which was restructured in November 2018.