LPG king's fine: JJVL responds

Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited responds to an earlier report that stated Iqbal Z Ahmed had been fined.

Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL) has provided the following response to the story, “LPG king fined millions”, published in the November 2, 2010, edition of The Express Tribune:

“We, of course, have no objection to the question asked in the National Assembly about the matter by Nisar Tanveer of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) or to the accurate response furnished by Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

“We are, however, deeply concerned that the unnamed correspondent made no efforts to reach out to JJVL or its principals, who have been and remain available to the press”

“Like other Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) producers in Pakistan, JJVL also markets its product through long-term agreements with LPG marketing companies licensed by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority in compliance with the law. Details on these customer companies are available both with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited complies with all statutory reporting requirements, and all data is provided on a regular basis to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, and the  Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.

“JJVL’s Chairman and CEO Iqbal Z Ahmed, who has been in the LPG sector for 21 years, is also the elected chairman of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of Pakistan. The suggestion that his friendships with either former president Pervez Musharraf or President Asif Ali Zardari, or anyone else, inform decision making to any degree at any of his companies is incorrect.

“Ahmed first met Musharraf in March 2005 at the inauguration of the JJVL Plant. He has known  Zardari for over 20 years. The claim that Ahmed ‘called the shots in the energy sector during Musharraf’s nine-year rule’ is also entirely incorrect.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2010.