TIRANA (Albania), May 7 (SeeNews) – US-based distributor of motor fuels Gulf Oil International said it has terminated its contract with Sun Petroleum Albania, an independent third-party company to whom Gulf had granted a licence to operate service stations under the Gulf brand.
Sun Petroleum Albania has failed to pay the licence fees in accordance with the contract, Gulf Oil International said in a press release late on Friday.
“Gulf Oil International makes every effort to ensure that no license is granted to any party without full due diligence having been carried out. Indeed, under Sun’s time as a licensee, the Gulf brand had previously established a good reputation in Albania for quality of product and of service alike and, as recently as 2016, the licensee had opened its first fuel terminal to help further expand its business," Vice President International of Gulf Oil, Frank Rutten, said.
"Obviously, however, trading circumstances change - sometimes irreparably - as appears to be the case here,” Rutten added. “We are given to understand that the company had allegedly sold a substantial number of pre-paid fuel coupons that customers cannot now redeem.”
Rutten stressed that this action has not in any way been pre-approved by Gulf Oil International.
A criminal investigation for suspected money laundering had been launched against two representatives of Tirana-based distributor of motor fuels Gulf Albania, local TV station Top Channel reported last month. Gulf Albania is owned by offshore company Universal Energy Group, which also owns Sun Petroleum Albania, Top Channel said. The representatives of Gulf Albania are under investigation over a fraudulent scheme of selling vouchers worth 1.5 million euro ($1.8 million) a few days before the company unexpectedly closed its operations in April.
"As there are ongoing investigations taking place in Albania and the situation is still to become 100% clear, Gulf Oil International cannot make any comment at this time, however we will make every effort to assist in protecting the Gulf brand,” he noted.
Rutten also said that Gulf’s model of independent third-party service station national licensees operates successfully in more than 25 other countries around the world and the situation in Albania is specific to that independent licensee and to that country alone.
($ = 0.83580 euro)