The appointment of an inspector to investigate the ownership of certain shares in Bula is to be welcomed. With £15 million lost on misadventures in Russia; the failure to establish the beneficial owner of the Bula shares given for the stake in the Russian oilfield; and the location unknown of the former chairman and chief executive, Jim Stanley, it is time for an investigation.

Bula is carrying out its own investigation into who owns the 101.5 million shares given to Mir Oil Developments. They were held by Mira until November 1996, and then passed on to Chamonix Nominees. Bula is also trying to establish how in October 1996 the company made an announcement claiming that test wells in Siberia had shown very strong results. The announcement pushed up the share price. In February 1997, Mir sold 27.8 million of its 101.5 million shares. The same month Bula had to disclose that the output from the Siberian wells would be significantly lower than the original announcement indicated. But Bula is a small company with limited resources for an investigation and no legal powers. As managing director Mr Pat Mahony pointed out, a Government appointed inspector would have more powers and more resources to get results. And it is important that he gets results, particularly for small shareholders who are entitled to depend on the authorities to see that the corporate sector behaves with integrity.