Biman Bangladesh Airlines has sought waiver of Tk 2,133 crore debt that it owed to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) as outstanding fuel bills.
The state-owned airline recently wrote to the Ministry of Finance appealing that its arrear bills to the BPC be written-off.
BPC’s Padma Oil Company has been supplying jet fuel to Biman under special directives of the government. But Biman has not paid a single penny to BPC for the last eight years showing losses.
In the last eight years, Biman owes Tk 2,133 crore (Tk 50 crore per month) to BPC for jet fuel.
BPC has been making hectic efforts to realize the arrear bills from Biman for the last few years by initiating high-level meetings. But the talks did not yield any result.
As the dispute between the two state-owned companies over the bills has been intensified, the top officials of the two parent ministries convened a meeting at the energy ministry recently. But it again could not reach a solution.
“The existing law does not permit writing-off arrear bills of Biman. Neither the Ministry nor the BPC can do so,” an Energy Division official told The New Nation on Monday on condition of anonymity.
He added as per rules, there is no scope for ‘write off’ or waive the arrear. However, instead of waiving this amount, the government can give subsidy to the national flag carrier to clear the upstanding bill from its own funds.
Energy Division’s Senior Secretary Anisur Rahman said the fuel bills had built up over a long period, starting in 2009. Biman should pay the arrear bills, otherwise, the debt will continue to swell, he said.
Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Mohibul Haque said that the majority of the debt was surcharges. “During the past few years, we paid some portion of the accumulated debt every month,” he said.
He said Biman Bangladesh Airlines is facing huge financial losses due to suspension of flights during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, Biman operated 600 flights every week, but it now can operate only 130-140 in a week.
The national carrier incurred a pre-tax loss of Tk125 crore from flight operation in the July-September period.
Earlier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines secured Tk 1,000 crore loan from Sonali Bank as it was reeling from a fund crisis due to ongoing travel restrictions for Covid-19 pandemic.
