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Several former officials who held important responsibilities in the state-run fuel procurement system have joined a private business group after retirement. Some of them served in senior positions at Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) or its oil marketing subsidiaries, while others were directly involved in fuel procurement, marketing, international suppliers, tenders and pricing.
An investigation has found that a number of these former officials joined or worked with Dr Ejazur Rahman’s business concerns, Seven Mark and Transbangla Commodities Ltd., at different times. According to several current and former BPC officials and sources in the energy sector, at least 10 former officials who had worked at BPC and its affiliated organisations have, at some point, been associated with Ejaz’s businesses.
The development has raised questions over whether experience and contacts gained through government service in fuel procurement, tendering, supplier selection, pricing and institutional dealings could provide any advantage to a particular private business group after retirement.
The investigation also found a geographical proximity between Ejaz’s businesses and BPC offices. Seven Mark and Transbangla Commodities Ltd. reportedly operate from the same building in Karwan Bazar where BPC’s Dhaka liaison office is also located.
No specific legal provision prohibiting a fuel supplier’s local representative from maintaining an office in the same building as a BPC office was found during the investigation. However, people familiar with the energy sector said such proximity could raise questions given the sensitive nature of tender and pricing information.
In international fuel tenders, bids, premiums and other commercial terms submitted by participating companies are considered highly sensitive. Access to information about a competitor’s offer in advance could potentially help another bidder submit a slightly lower price and secure the lowest bid.
Several current and former BPC officials have alleged that businesses linked to Ejaz have used long-standing institutional contacts to gain advantageous positions in different tenders. However, no independent evidence establishing these allegations was found for this report.
A review of BPC’s supplier list also highlights the business connections between Ejaz’s companies and international fuel suppliers. Of the 11 international suppliers of refined petroleum products listed by BPC, at least six reportedly have local representation or business links with Seven Mark or Transbangla Commodities Ltd.
Seven Mark reportedly represents Singapore-based Unipec and Indonesia’s BSP-Japin. Transbangla Commodities, meanwhile, is reportedly linked to local representation of Petco Trading Labuan Company Ltd., PTT International Trading, Vitol Asia and Sinochem International.
Although the international companies are separate entities, a significant portion of their local business contacts in Bangladesh reportedly connects them with the two companies belonging to the same business group.
One example of a former BPC official joining Ejaz’s business concerns is Mustafa Qudrat-E-Elahi, former managing director of Jamuna Oil Company Ltd. Several BPC sources said he joined Transbangla Commodities Ltd. in March this year. The sources also claimed that he plays an important role in fuel-related activities when Ejaz is abroad.
However, no confirmed information was available regarding his specific position, responsibilities or exact date of formally joining Transbangla Commodities.
Several people familiar with BPC affairs alleged that relationships, experience and contacts developed while serving in government are being used in private business activities after retirement. They questioned whether the appointment of former senior officials of the state fuel sector by companies representing major fuel suppliers could create potential conflicts of interest.
Some BPC officials also claimed that in several tenders over the past few years, companies with local representation linked to Ejaz submitted bids that were marginally lower than those of competitors and emerged as the lowest bidders.
According to them, the matter could be examined by analysing bid sheets from international tenders held over the past several years. Comparing the premium gaps between the first- and second-lowest bidders, tender schedules and the repeated participation of the companies could help determine whether there were any unusual patterns.
Some officials have therefore called for an independent review of BPC’s complete bid sheets and technical and financial evaluation reports from previous years.
Questions have also been raised by some BPC officials over the eligibility of several international companies locally represented by Ejaz’s businesses, including Indonesia’s BSP-Japin.
They claimed that questions remain over the company’s own refinery, its ownership stake in the refinery and its production and export capacity in relation to its inclusion as a government-to-government supplier.
Citing port-related documents, they further claimed that several fuel consignments imported for BPC under the name of BSP-Japin originated from Malaysia and Singapore rather than Indonesia.
However, the country from which a particular shipment originates does not by itself establish whether a supplier is eligible or whether a contract is valid. The relevant contractual conditions, approvals concerning the origin of the fuel and supporting documents would need to be reviewed together to establish the matter.
Energy-sector experts said the issue is not limited to the activities of a single businessman or company. It also concerns transparency in state-level fuel procurement, fair competition and the independence of institutional decision-making.
They said that if the same local agent represents multiple international suppliers, former officials of state-run fuel organisations join that agent’s companies after retirement, and companies within the same business group repeatedly receive government contracts, the relationships should be independently examined.
Such an assessment, they said, would require comparing when former BPC officials retired, when they joined private companies, what responsibilities they held during government service, and what types of government contracts were secured during the same period by companies represented by their new employers.
Experts noted that fuel is a strategic commodity for the state. Therefore, alongside purchasing fuel at competitive prices, ensuring supply security, achieving maximum savings of public money, maintaining a competitive environment and preserving institutional independence in decision-making are also important.
Against this backdrop, the movement of former officials from state-run fuel organisations into the same private business network after retirement has renewed discussion about the so-called “revolving door” between the public and private sectors.
Whether these post-retirement appointments have any direct connection with fuel import tenders or government contracts can only be determined through an independent, document-based review of the relevant appointments, tender records, evaluation reports and contractual documents.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/business/1f1b1b96-93ce-62a0-a64f-9aa1b9fe003c