KNPC incurs losses:

Misprint regretted: The Arab Times newspaper in its Friday/Saturday issue, April 2-3 published an article ‘Mekrad meets Polish envoy’. The name of the envoy was inadvertently mentioned as Paul Schweiz. The correct name is Pawel Lechowicz. The error is regretted.

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The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) has incurred $183 million losses last year, as a result of its increase in the quantities of fuel oil production, as the selling price of fuel oil is less than the average price of purchasing crude oil, reports Al-Qabas daily.

The sources pointed out that despite the decrease in the selling price of fuel oil and the company incurring additional losses, the company continued to increase its production in its affiliated refineries, as the percentage of increase in the planned fuel oil product reached 85% at the Ahmadi refinery, and to 190% at the Mina Abdullah refinery.

❑ ❑ Draft law on employment: ❑ ❑

According to informed sources from the oil sector, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) have presented their opinions regarding the draft law on public employment in the country which was discussed by the parliament’s Human Resources Development

Committee, reports Al-Anba daily.

In this regard, KPC stressed the need to cancel the proposed text of the law that contains the requirement to consider working in government-owned companies within the definition of a public position.

It explained that state-owned companies, including subsidiaries and those wholly owned by the KPC, are commercial companies established in accordance with the provisions of the companies law promulgated by law No. 1/2016, which are not public laws, but rather private laws without changing that it is owned by the state.

Accordingly, the jobs in these companies are not considered as public jobs, just as the workers in these companies are not public employees.

Therefore, according to the general principle, work in state-owned companies may not be included within the definition of public employment, as stipulated in the proposed draft law.

Drugs seized: ❑ ❑ ❑

Personnel from the General Administration of Customs have seized 21 kilos of narcotic herbs which arrived from an unidentified European country, reports Al-Anba daily.

A security source said the air cargo men suspected the contents of the parcel, and upon searching it, the herbs were found neatly packed.

The daily did not give more details.