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Managing Director of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company, Mr Kingsley Awuah Darko, has pledged to deal with anyone found culpable in the audit report that unravelled massive corrupt practices that caused financial loss to the company and the state at large.

He said the audit report compiled by Ernst and Young (E&Y) had been forwarded to the Minister of Petroleum for his perusal and further action, adding that copies had also been served on the bulk oil distribution companies (BDCs) mentioned in the report for their reaction.

At a press briefing to explain happenings in the company, Mr Darko said the board and the management of BOST decided to employ E&Y, a renowned international accounting firm, to look into the company’s balance sheet because of the numerous losses that it was making in the past.

According to him, together with its partners, BOST had, over the past one year, managed to restore sanity to its operations.

He said the company had, over a period up to 2013, been operating at a loss, and was able to make profit in 2014 only when it put in place stringent measures to check its operations.

Explaining how it did that, he said it was only when BOST introduced TSL, the Ghanaian subsidiary of a Nigerian-owned firm, to take charge of its day-to-day paper work that it had managed to make the gains it was presently making.

Making a presentation on the operations of the company, he said in 2010, the company made a loss of more than GH¢3.8 million; more than GHc14.2 million in 2011; more than GH¢10.85 million in 2012, and GH¢45.56 million in 2013.

Mr Darko, who took over the managing directorship of the company in October 2013, said the company managed to make profit of GH¢8.1 million in 2014 when TSL was brought in.

He said BOST, which currently had six weeks’ storage reserve, also had suppliers’ credit of over $280 million which it released to the market whenever there were shortages.

That, he said, had been made possible due to the restructuring exercise that it had put in place, as well as its ability to restore the credibility of the company.

Relationship with BDC’s

According to Mr Darko, BOST had a good and ongoing working relationship with the BDCs, adding that it had now stayed focused on delivering on its mandate of ensuring that there was no shortage of petroleum products on the market.

He said for the past two to three weeks the BDCs had been buying products from BOST because it was able to ensure that it had reserves for eventualities.

He, however, wondered why the Chamber of the BDCs would be levelling all kinds of accusations against BOST, in spite of the good relationship between members of the chamber and BOST.

Worker agitation

Mr Darko refuted allegations that tension was brewing between him and workers of the company, saying that staff of BOST worked as a family.

He took the opportunity to announce the restoration of Mr Albert Mantey, the Chairman of the Professional and Managerial Staff Union.