According to Petrol’s Public Relations, Dr. Rashid Ghanei, CEO of Petrol, opened the meeting by addressing the challenges of project financing. "Financing projects in the current economic climate has become increasingly difficult due to rising interest rates," Ghanei remarked. "Banks have significantly reduced lending, making it challenging for production-oriented companies to secure credit. Nevertheless, despite these difficulties, we had a highly prosperous year, continuing the robust performance of the past 2.5 years."
He further elaborated: "We successfully secured 10 trillion rials in Murabaha bonds for Arghavan Gostar Ilam Petrochemical, and an additional 10 trillion rials for Sadaf Persian Gulf Petrochemical. Furthermore, 5 trillion rials in Murabaha bonds were raised to finance the Negin Songhor project."
Ghanei noted that the physical progress of the Sadaf Persian Gulf Petrochemical project had reached 95.7%, underscoring that the company had seen a 28% increase in equity over the past year. He added, "Return on assets (ROA) grew by an impressive 82%."
Discussing portfolio optimization, Ghanei reported that Petrol had restructured approximately 8 trillion rials worth of its investment portfolio during the last fiscal year, achieving a more balanced and efficient asset mix.
In his presentation to the AGM, Ghanei highlighted several key initiatives that have driven the company's progress. These include securing long-term, stable, and cost-effective feedstock for Ilam Petrochemical, leading to contracts for the procurement of C3+ and ethylene. He also mentioned efforts to enhance production at Urmia Petrochemical through upgrades to the potassium sulfate furnaces and the acquisition of new urea catalysts to increase capacity at Lordegan Petrochemical.
In a direct address to shareholders, Ghanei remarked: "Ilam Petrochemical has achieved a 13% increase in production. To further enhance polyethylene output, we signed a contract for ethylene supply from Gachsaran Petrochemical through the West Ethylene Pipeline, enabling the unit to operate at full nominal capacity."
