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Bankers Petroleum, Albania to pick auditor to settle tax spat

Published 2015-09-14, 12:03 p/m
© Reuters. Bankers Petroleum, Albania to pick auditor to settle tax spat
BNK
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TIRANA, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Canada's Bankers Petroleum
BNK.TO has agreed with Albania's national resources watchdog
to pick a third-party auditor to resolve a tax dispute over its
2011 spending, the company and Albanian officials said on
Monday.
Bankers Petroleum has been extracting oil for 11 years in
the Patos-Marinza oil field under an output-sharing contract
which allows it to recover costs before paying profit tax. It
has paid royalties and other taxes but no profit tax.
An audit of Bankers' books for 2011 by the Agency for
National Resources (AKBN) disputed some $250 million dollars in
expenditure, triggering a $57 million profit tax demand by the
Finance Ministry.
The international auditor is expected to be selected in a
matter of weeks but its ruling will take several months.
"This represents a significant step towards enhancing
transparency in the administration and regulation of oil and gas
activities in Albania," David French, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Bankers Petroleum, said in a statement.
"Bankers views this commitment by the authorities as an
important milestone in the ongoing improvement of our
operations," French said, adding he expected it to resolve the
tax demand dispute.
Dael Dervishi, the head of Albania's National Resources
Agency, said the two sides had agreed to turn to a third-party
and take all other steps before taking the dispute to an
international arbitration court.
"We agreed to allow a third party to review all the audit
findings for 2011 to advise both parties, because either we were
too harsh or the company was not diligent enough", Dervishi told
Reuters. The third party would tell them "which of us should
give in," he added.

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