Nearly MVR 1 billion generated from bunkering, says economic minister

The bunkering service launched by the Maldivian administration in 2024 has generated nearly MVR 1 billion in revenue, according to Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed.

Bunkering services launched in the Maldives on September 19, 2024. The service is run by the State Trading Organization (STO) and Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) in partnership with Swiss-based Vitol.

At a press briefing on Thursday, Saeed told reporters that the service generated MVR 923.4 million in revenue as of April 30.

“We were able to boost revenue to close to MVR 1 billion over two years from this service that we began without a port. And now, you may ask, isn’t this fuel that was already being brought to the Maldives? No. It is not,” he said.

Saeed said that 85-90 percent of fuel used for bunkering was new. He said the work was previously carried out in collaboration with Sri Lanka and other neighboring countries.

The figures shared by Saeed on Thursday marks a significant increase from the ones he shared in early April. Speaking to reporters on April 8, Saeed said the bunkering service generated MVR 730 million as of March 31. This shows the service generated MVR 193 million in April alone.

Saeed had previously said the administration plans to gradually develop the service to one that generates USD 400 million in revenues annually.