Vitols warns of excessive political meddling

RIGA - Vitol Group, the largest shareholder in oil transit company Ventspils Nafta, is a long-term investor in Latvia, and the company does not plan to sell its business in Ventspils even though there is significant interest about it, Vitol Group representative Mark Ware said in an interview with the newspaper Dienas Bizness. Vitol has invested more than 300 million dollars in the company’s business in Ventspils.
“We are long-term investors and not some kind of a hedge fund. We like our business in Ventspils and expect a return from it,” emphasized Ware.

Ware admits that Vitol does not plan new investments in Latvia during the next few years. However, the company is considering purchasing several facilities, for example, oil refineries, trade companies and filling stations throughout the world. Vitol is also building new terminals in Cyprus and Malaysia. The company does not focus on the Baltic region or Latvia in particular; there are various additional opportunities, points out the businessman.

Ware believes that if Latvia wants to become more important in the transit and oil business, the country must prove that the investments in both sectors are preferable and supported. “Politicians’ excessive influence over these business activities must be lessened. Latvia is a member of the European Union, however, the business and legal environments are currently more complicated than they should be,” explains Ware.

Commenting on the development of Vitol companies, Ware notes that Ventspils Nafta Terminals (VNT) is successful, and the company’s transit volume has increased 24 percent. At the moment, Vitol owns 11 terminals and VNT is the company’s largest one.

“Overall, our business in Ventspils is progressing, even though it requires much effort. We see the light at the end of the tunnel and, hopefully, there will be less rumors and more business activity in the future,” concludes the businessman.