Attock Petroleum Limited (APL) has accused Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) of giving preference to its (APL) competitors in the clearance of outstanding dues, sources told Business Recorder. They said that one of the company''s Assistant General Managers (AGM) wrote a strong-worded letter to Pepco Managing Director, stating that Pepco''s treatment of the company with regard to payment of outstanding dues was discriminatory.
"APL is the only oil marketing company (OMC) providing uninterrupted supplies to Pepco''s power generation plants, despite the fact that we are not receiving allocation of funds in the same proportion of other OMCs," sources quoted the AGM as registering protest on behalf of APL. APL has complained that in December 2008, allocation to APL was Rs 230 million, whereas Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was allocated Rs 4.167 billion.
In January, provision of funds to APL was Rs 300 million while its competitors PSO had been allocated Rs 4.5 billion, OOTCL Rs 340 million and Shell Rs 290 million. "It is regretfully stated that APL is the only OMC having outstanding amount in billions as against other OMCs having their outstanding amount cleared," sources quoted the AGM as having said in the letter.
The company is of the view that it has time and again requested Pepco Managing Director for clearance of the long outstanding payments through various letters since September 12, 2008 to which not a single response had been received, sources added. They said that PSO is also expressing serious reservations about not receiving its chronic dues from Pepco, due to which the company''s financial position is plummeting.
A couple of weeks ago, Finance Ministry is said to have paid Rs 7.2 billion to the independent power producers (IPPs) and oil suppliers, but their financial crunch is yet to be over.
"We do not know which language the government understands," said Chief Executives Officer (CEO) of one of the IPPs whose company is reportedly making a hue and cry over Pepco''s treatment. Pepco has claimed that it has paid Rs 8.667 billion to PSO, up to January 2, 2009 for furnace oil supplies to Genco power stations, and arrangements are being made to pay the remaining outstanding amount, sources said.
It is pertinent to note that the government in its letter of intent to International Monetary Fund (IMF) has committed to preparing, by end March 2009, a plan for eliminating the inter-corporate debt which would include (i) identification of all debts owed and due among corporations, duly reconciled, (ii) the determination of the validity of claims, (iii) schedule by which respective entities will discharge their liabilities to each other, and (v) a timeframe during which the Federal Adjuster would use his powers to make adjustments, in case of failure to adhere to the approved schedule.
Finance Ministry is actively working on the plan in consultation with all stakeholders, which include GoP, provinces, Pepco, IPPs and OMCs.