The Scottish government will lose cash in loans to Prestwick Airport, Ferguson Marine and BiFab. was handed over

The Scottish Government cannot report any returns on investments in the form of interest payments or dividends on the multiple loans granted to all three.

Meanwhile, it has been found that the value of what he spent to save Bifab and Prestwick has dropped to a tiny fraction of its original value.

According to official 2018/19 financial statements, the equity value of a loan to Bifab decreased from £ 37.4million to just £ 2million due to expected losses.

Debt totaling £ 39.9m from a Prestwick Airport bailout is outstanding. In its 2018/19 financial statements, Transport Scotland announced that the loan had decreased in value by £ 33m to just £ 6.9m to reflect expected losses.

About £ 5 million in interest was owed after ministers invested £ 45 million in Ferguson Marine over two years, but not a penny has been confirmed after the shipbuilder got into administration last August before going was taken over by the Scottish Government.

The interest payment is £ 45m, the amount owed as a result of the collapse of FMEL after using £ 7.5m of its debt to carry out a government takeover of the company. According to financial papers, ministers expect to get some money back from the collapse of the FMEL, but administrators have only withheld £ 8.4 million for possible distribution to creditors.

Canadian company Bifab, with shipyards in Arnish and Fife, received a total of £ 37.4m in interest-free loans between 2017 and March 2019. These were converted into shares in a process that began in April 2018 and eventually granted ministers a 32.4% stake in the company.

However, it has been confirmed that the Scottish government has not yet received any dividends.

It has been confirmed that an additional £ 9 million was paid out to Bifab in 2019/20, which is struggling to get contracts in a separate loan that is said to attract 18% annual interest.

But ministers have not yet been able to explain how much, if any, they have received.

And it has been confirmed that the £ 39.9million on previous loans granted to Prestwick Airport to keep it afloat has not generated any return.

John O’Connell, CEO of the TaxPayers ‘Alliance, said: “It is incredibly worrying that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash could go down the drain – money that could be used to support vital frontline services.

“We all want the local industry to thrive, but the Scottish government shouldn’t try to pick winners and losers. Putting public funds at commercial risk is nowhere near a guaranteed recipe for success.

“The best way to help businesses thrive is to reduce the burdens on them. Tax cuts and red tape would be a blessing for many entrepreneurs.”

The Scottish government says it needs to intervene with Ferguson Marine and Bifab as both are strategically important companies and their actions have saved hundreds of jobs.

The “fight for bifab” protests

The Scottish government has been criticized for its handling of the state takeover of Ferguson Marine after a secretly negotiated deal that paved the way for a state takeover that waived £ 25 million in performance bonds called “insurance” against it was criticized acted the sinking of the company and not being able to complete two lifeline ferries.

The delivery of the two life raft ferries MV Glen Sannox and Hull 902 by the state-owned Ferguson Marine has been delayed by another six months due to the coronavirus pandemic – while the project costs have doubled compared to the original fixed-price contract of 97 million pounds.

The further delays mean that the delivery of both ferries, which was due online in the first half of 2018, is between four and five years late.

The Herald on Sunday previously revealed that ministers had ensured that the owners of the last civil shipyard had a “purchase right” at Clyde Year 2018 when they gave FMEL a £ 30 million loan knowing it was a loan Path to state property was created.

Bifab employed approximately 2,000 people at its two shipyards in Fife and one on Lewis during peak production on its Beatrice offshore wind farm contract, building equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry, as well as platforms for offshore wind turbines and tidal generators

The Scottish Government’s first £ 19 million loan to BiFab to help close its deal came in 2017 but has struggled to land large contracts since the company was acquired by Newfoundland company DF Barnes in 2018.

The mortgage lending value was converted to the company’s equity the day after it was acquired by DF Barnes on April 17, 2018 – but its value has plummeted since then.

The company was saved from the edge of administration by £ 37.4 million, but hundreds of jobs were cut after it was bought by Canadian firm DF Barnes.

It was the focus of a series of Scottish jobs that lost jobs in the wind farm revolution after sixteen more workers were laid off in January, amid ongoing questions about a large multi-million offshore wind farm contract.

It has reduced the workforce at Bifab to under 100 as work on oil and gas manufacturing parts for the Niger Delta subsides.

The Herald believes that final decisions have not yet been made on whether Bifab would get a cut in measures on building one of the country’s largest offshore wind farms, the £ 2 billion Neart Na Gaoithe (NnG).

It was hoped to win a key contract to build the 54 steel foundations that will anchor the turbines to the ocean floor. It had been proposed to build eight in Scotland and the rest in Southeast Asia.

The SNP administration has come under fire for its interventions in taking over some private sector companies.

It paid £ 1 to buy Prestwick Airport in 2013 and has since plowed tens of millions into the Ayrshire hub.

In November 2013, the Scottish government acquired Prestwick Airport with the declared aim of protecting jobs and maintaining what it believed to be a strategic infrastructure.

As of March 31, 2019, the Scottish Government’s loans to the airport totaled £ 39.9 million. The debt remains outstanding.

In June 2019, the Scottish Government announced that the sale of Prestwick Airport is moving forward in line with its long-term goal of returning the airport to the private sector.

Transport Scotland anticipates a sale could be possible by the end of 2019/20.

A date has not yet been set for the sale to close as delays due to the coronavirus pandemic are being put down.

It turns out that there is an interested party and that the time frame for discussions has been extended.

Two years ago, Audit Scotland told ministers it needed to stop making secret loans to private companies with low accountability.

Rather than being left to policy-making, a set of rules should be drawn up as to when the government should offer financial support to companies.

In an analysis of the Scottish Government’s accounts for 2018/19 last year, the Auditor General for Scotland highlighted that Ministers had not yet developed a “clear framework” to outline their approach to financial intervention in private companies.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are committed to the openness and transparency of the public funds we use to support the Scottish economy and the framework for lending by Scottish Ministers to business is clearly set out in the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

“As Audit Scotland has recognized, the Scottish Government performs reasonable due diligence prior to providing funding to support Scottish businesses and this will continue throughout the life of the support.

“We have informed the Scottish Parliament’s Finance Committee about the loans to BiFab and FMEL.

“In addition, last year we published new guidelines specifically relating to investments in companies by Scottish ministers. These guidelines reinforce the existing comprehensive framework of legislation, economic policies, procedures, practice and expertise that guides and supports informed decision-making in financial interventions involving private companies.

Regarding the value for money at Ferguson Marine and Bifab, the spokesman continued: “We have saved Ferguson Marine from closure, saved more than 300 jobs, ensured the completion of the two ships under construction and ensured a future for the shipyard .

“The delivery of the ships is vital to support the ferry rescue network by adding two new much-needed ships to the Calmac fleet – and there is no guarantee that this could have been cheaper elsewhere.

“We understand that this government will support the shipbuilding industry in Scotland – and that is exactly what we did.

“BiFab is a strategically important business and it was important that we helped them avoid the administration threat. The Scottish Government is in regular contact with the company, investors and relevant parties in our work to ensure a strong, sustainable future for BiFab and to create long-term jobs. ”