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Prax Group, an oil company that fell into bankruptcy last weekend, said the UK government is spending £250 million on unpaid taxes, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
People did not specify which Plax companies owed to the money or whether it was related to one or more entities, but they said the HM revenue and outstanding debt to customs was part of a recent debate between Prax and the UK government.
Third parties confirmed that the outstanding tax liability was part of the discussion, but were unable to comment on the amount of payment.
UK Energy Director Michael Shanks said at the end of April, UK government officials were informed of commercial difficulties at Lindsey Oil Refinery in Prax, and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Prax’s chief executive, Sanjiev Kumar Susaipirai, met in mid-May to discuss how the government could provide support.
However, until last week, Prax had claimed that its facility on the Humber River in northeast England was not at risk of closure, Shanks told Parliament this week.
Lindsay Refinery, one of five remaining facilities in the country, producing about a tenth of the UK’s fuel, is located in receiverships, putting more than 400 jobs in danger.
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Husbands and wives Sanjeeff and Alani Susayipilai established Prax in 1999 at a single gas station near St Albans north of London, growing into a vast oil company with annual revenues of over $10 billion.
Sanjeev, Arani and their businesses have also not issued a statement since Prax parent company State Oil went into bankruptcy.
No unpaid tax liability has been reported previously. One of the people with knowledge of the situation showed that some or all of the outstanding amounts relating to the fuel obligations paid by the supplier and generally passed to the pump’s customers are related to the fuel obligations.
“There’s a huge number involved in terms of fuel obligations that we intend to pay each month,” the person said.
Prax faced Liquidly problems for several years before it collapsed. Deloitte supported the company in 2023 as part of a rationalization and cost-cutting exercise known as Project King.
HMRC said: “We can’t talk about individual businesses for reasons of confidentiality.”
A request for comments sent to Soosaipillai’s Prax email address was returned with a message that the founder was not working for the company. Vladimir Langamar, managing director of Prax for Europe, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
