Qatar Fuel is taking a closer look at the possibility of carrying out inspection of vehicles for road permit renewal at its service stations spread across the country. This will make vehicle inspection easier and more efficient, senior Qatar Fuel officials hinted in reply to questions from shareholders at their extraordinary annual general meeting (AGM) here yesterday. The AGM was convened to seek formal approval of Qatar Fuel shareholders for the merger of Qatar Technical Inspection Company (QTIC), which checks the roadworthiness of vehicles for annual road permit renewal. Currently, vehicle inspections are held at selected places and many shareholders complained that the process is cumbersome and consumes a lot of time. Qatar Fuel officials also hinted that vehicle inspections would be made less costly in the near future as the acquisition of QTIC will lead to cost effectiveness and more efficiency. The shareholders of Qatar Fuel, popularly known as Woqod which is the local distributor of petroleum products and manages a large number of service stations as well, approved the acquisition of QTIC. The AGM discussed the feasibility report for the merger of QTIC prepared by prominent audit firm Ernst & Young and approved the board’s proposal to give away one Qatar Fuel share for every 5.3 shares of QTIC. In other words, the shareholders of QTIC will get one share of Qatar Fuel for every 5.3 shares (of QTIC) held. It may be noted here that Qatar Fuel made a record of sorts by distributing 100 percent dividend to its shareholders. It recently paid QR10 as cash dividend for each share, whose nominal or face value is QR10. The auditors, Ernst & Young, had evaluated the assets of both the companies and recommended that one Qatar Fuel share could be given for every 5.3 shares of QTIC. The recommendation was tabled at the AGM and approved by the shareholders. It was also announced that QTIC will soon issue a decision formally dissolving the company to facilitate its merger with Qatar Fuel. Another decision is to be issued later to formalise its merger with Qatar Fuel. The AGM was presided over by the Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah, who is ex-officio chairman of Qatar Fuel. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=May2009&file=Local_News200905212511.xml

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