PUTRAJAYA: The RM1.1bil injection into the debt-laden Sapura Energy Bhd should be repaid as it was provided in the form of capital loans, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar - who is also the Finance Minister - said the fund would be converted into a capital loan, with the expectation that Sapura's new management will repay it once they recover.
"What is being done is that this injection will be used as loan capital so that the new management will hopefully manage the fund better, make a profit, and repay the injection fund of RM1.1bil.
"This is not a bailout, but it is being implemented in the form of a loan," he said in his address at the Finance Ministry's monthly assembly on Thursday (March 13).
Anwar added that a forensic audit was conducted by the accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) to ensure transparency before the decision was reached.
"And believe me, the decision is not an easy one.
"I am one of the strongest critics against government bailouts because of my experience from back in 1997 and 1998, I opposed the bailouts to large shipping companies that involved the children of a former prime minister," said Anwar.
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), the existing significant shareholder of Sapura Energy, said the funds invested would be exclusively and directly used to repay the oil and gas (O&G) firm’s local vendors.
It said this was crucial to ensure the financial survival of Malaysian service providers within the O&G ecosystem, pointing out that Sapura Energy had more than 2,000 vendors.
Many of these vendors were small and medium-sized enterprises and made up about 59,000 workers in the O&G sector, it added.
