Chamber and committees

My final question is in two parts. First, I was not able to find your financial accounts for the year to December 2022. They are not available from Companies House. What was your financial position at the end of December 2022?

Secondly, has a final decision been taken to close the refinery? What would it take to keep it open for a longer period of time? You talked earlier about the capex of £40 million. Are there any other factors that we need to take into account to keep it open?

Okay. Thanks very much.

You talked about the substantial losses that were made in 2020 and 2021 due to the lockdowns. However, Rystad Energy highlighted that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

“catapulted refining from famine to feast in term of margins.”

Was it a mistake for Petroineos to cut the site’s refining capacity by 30 per cent?

You mentioned that current demand is for 150,000 barrels per day. When you close the refinery in five years’ time or whenever it happens to be, what will happen to that demand?

If it is a no-loss company, how did you make substantial losses? I picked the losses up from the manufacturing company.

What were the group profits?

Right.

I have a couple of final questions. First, you said that you have returned to profitability over the past four years; at what point do you intend to start paying dividends? Secondly, you have a loan debt of £43 million, and I notice that the interest is accruing in the background. It was £7 million-odd in the previous year, and it is now £9 million. When will that start to be repaid to the Scottish Government?

There is a master plan to reinvent Prestwick over 30 years. In previous decades, the airport was owned by the Canadian entrepreneur Matthew Hudson, then the Stagecoach Group, and then Infratil. Obviously, the Scottish Government took it over in 2013. Is it in the best interests of getting access to finance or the airport’s operation for it to remain in public ownership, or should it be moved over to the commercial side?

Okay. Thank you.