CCoP to omit Mari Petroleum from Privatisation list

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) has decided to omit Mari Petroleum Company Limited (MPCL) from the privatisation list.

The meeting, chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin, discussed the proposal for divestment of the government of Pakistan’s shares in MPCL and decided to omit it from the privatisation list.

The proposal was submitted by the Privatisation Division for debt recapitalisation and refinancing of the government’s excess equity and the Pakistan Development Fund Limited (PDFL) loan through commercial borrowing of the National Power Park Management Company Limited.

The committee approved the proposals that NPPMCL will initiate debt recapitalisation and refinancing process as per the Companies Act, 2017 and all the government stakeholders to jointly support the NPPMCL to implement and execute the process of debt recapitalisation and refinancing from the local banks.

The meeting also directed to revisit the interest rate of Kibor plus 1.80 per cent through competitive bidding.

The summary for the privatisation of Guddu Power Plant and Nandipur Power Plant also came under discussion during the meeting and the Ministry of Energy was directed to obtain a decision of the Cabinet Committee on Energy for the privatisation of the two power plants.

The Privatisation Division and the Ministry of Energy were also directed to prepare and share the roadmap for the valuation of the assets of these power plants and modus operandi for transfer of assets.

The meeting also discussed the summary for the privatisation of the SME Bank Limited and delisting of the SME Bank Limited from the Privatisation Commission, and formed a committee constituted under the chairmanship of the finance minister and representatives from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and the Finance and Privatisation divisions to evaluate alternative options for further proceeding.

Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar; secretaries of the Finance Division, Privatisation Commission, Petroleum Division and other relevant officers attended the meeting.