Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) Company Limited, a State-Owned fuel logistics company, has been adjudged the beacon of corporate governance by Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for its operational excellence and strategic growth into a profitable company.
The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana addressing the gathering at the ceremony, to his immediate left is the Borad chairman of BOST, Mr Ekow Hackman and next to him is Mr Edwin Provencal, MD of BOST.
He observed that BOST, which in 2017 was saddled with liabilities of $624 million, Legacy loans of GHS284 million, Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) claims of $37 million, and GRA Tax Liability of GHS47 million, making the company unattractive for credit lines to stay in business.
Some traditional authorities were there to grace the occassion
The Vice President was speaking at the commissioning of the new Head Office of BOST, said 30 per cent of the company’s tanks had been decommissioned with three out of the company’s 6 depots non-operational.
“Four river barges were out of commission, the entire network of pipelines of 361km across the country were out of service and 77km of 12-inch pipes procured under US Exim facility had been detained in Houston for over 10 years as a result of a contractual dispute.
Dignitaries including former Managing Directors, the Board Chair, member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon as well as the MD and his deputy in a group picture with the vice president of the Republic, Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia(in the middle) after the ceremony.
“There was a picture of a company that was being run down. To complete this chaotic picture, the BOST account had been unaudited for 3 years, making it very difficult to determine the company’s financial position and no bank was going to extend a credit loan to a company which had no audited account”, he narrated.
A section of staff at the ceremony
Dr Bawumia applauded the Board under the chairmanship of Mr Ekow Hackman for the approval of a 5-year turnaround strategy from 2020 to 2024 prepared by the management of BOST and led by the Managing Director, Mr Edwin Provencal to save the company from insolvency.
He added that “the strategy between the board and management which focused on enhancing operational excellence and aggressively growing the business sought to make BOST profitable, ensure the development and effective implementation of policies to fully utilised all BOST assets and automate the company’s processes and most importantly be the beacon of corporate governance in the country."
A front view across the street of the new Head Office.
