Maldives Ports Limited says the company currently purchases oil form from STO and will make a decision on purchasing oil from Meridium once the Court procedures conclude.

Speaking to Raajje.mv when questioned over the information, MPL Media Official said that the company had not reversed their decision over the purchase of oil from Meridium. The official said that they now buy oil from STO.

He said the company will make a decision on purchasing oil from Meridium once the Court procedures are finalized.

MPL said only two hearings of the appeal were held and none afterwards. The official said that they were not aware of a reason why the hearings have not progressed.

The Civil Court verdict ordered that MPL can only purchase oil from Meridium. After having reviewed the case, the Court decreed that there was no reason to terminate the agreement between Meridium and MPL.

MPL had appealed the decision, stating that they suffer losses of MVR 300,000 per months and a total MVR 3.6 million annually due to the agreement with Meridium.

Former CEO Mohamed Junaid said that agreement with Meridium was made without the bidding process and oil purchase was not strictly limited to Meridium. He said there were more affordable suppliers. For an instance, he noted that there were suppliers who had submitted a price of MVR 6.90 against Meridium’s MVR 12 per liter.

He added that his mandate as the CEO was to reduce the cost where possible and make MPL a successful company, as instructed by the President.

Junaid added that even though Meridium was owned by PPM PG Deputy Leader Riyaz Rasheed, he said that it was not grounds that MPL should suffer financially.