Managing Director of Bulk Energy Storage and Transportation Company Limited (formerly BOST), Dr. Edwin Alfred Provencal, has revealed that the company had anticipated a profit of around GHS 1 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.
However, the actual profit was GHS 208 million, representing a substantial shortfall.
In an exclusive interview with Citi Business News, Dr. Provencal attributed the lower-than-expected profit to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and other external disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly impacted the fuel supply chain.
“Inadvertently, if you look at the amount of business we did in 2023, we should have made a profit of over GHS 1 billion but because of the interventions, we had to suppress our margins and others to ensure that the national problem was solved,” he stated.
He further noted, “In 2022, there was no gold-for-oil, no external shocks, no Russia-Ukraine War, and no IMF. But in 2023, we started feeling the effects of these, and the government had to intervene by leveraging institutions it could control.”
BOST has been one of the few state-owned enterprises that consistently turn a profit. In 2021, the company achieved a profit of GHS 160 million, which more than doubled to GHS 342 million in 2022. Despite facing challenges in 2023, resulting in a profit drop to GHS 208 million, BOST continues to follow a profitable trajectory.