Ship & Bunker: Tomorrow Oilmar will hold its Mid-Year Town Hall. Why is this one particularly significant?

Yusif Mammadov: This Town Hall is an important milestone because it allows us to reflect on the progress we have made since beginning a new chapter in Oilmar's history following last year's Management Buy-Out.

Earlier this year, we held our first Town Hall under the new ownership.

Tomorrow's event is different. It is not about introducing our vision, it is about reporting on it.

For the first time since establishing our Board of Directors, every department will present its achievements from the first half of the year together with its priorities for the remainder of 2026. That reflects the culture we are building, where every function contributes to our success.

This Town Hall will be held virtually so that our colleagues across all trading hubs can participate. However, our ambition is to bring our entire global team together to our Dubai headquarters for our Annual Town Hall later this year.

The past year naturally brought increased scrutiny to our business due to circumstances entirely outside Oilmar's operations and beyond the company's control. Throughout that period, we remained focused on what mattered most: serving our customers, supporting our suppliers and continuing to execute our long-term strategy.

Tomorrow is not about looking back. It is about demonstrating the progress our people have made together during the first year of Oilmar's new era.

Ship & Bunker: How would you describe the first half of 2026 from a financial perspective?

Nain Shafi: The first half of 2026 has been a very positive period for Oilmar and reflects the strength of our strategic focus on governance, financial discipline, banking relationships and operational efficiency.

Despite a challenging and highly competitive market, we delivered stronger bottom-line profitability than in the first half of 2025, creating increased value for our shareholder.

Our commercial strategy has been centered on quality rather than volume, with a clear focus on higher-value, higher-margin transactions and long-term customer relationships. As a result, gross profit increased by approximately 10% compared with the same period last year, while our gross profit margin improved by 1.8 times, demonstrating both the value of our commercial approach and the quality of the services we provide.

We also maintained a disciplined approach to cash management, liquidity and credit facilities, ensuring efficient working capital management and a strong financial foundation to support sustainable growth.

In parallel, company-wide efficiency initiatives reduced operating costs by 21% compared with the first half of 2025. Together with disciplined treasury management and effective foreign exchange risk management, these measures have further strengthened our financial performance and positioned the business well for continued growth.

Ship & Bunker: Supplier credit was closely watched by the market over the past year. Where does Oilmar stand today?

Tahira Shikhiyeva: Any company that experiences heightened market attention can expect counterparties to revisit their risk assessments. That is a normal part of prudent risk management.

Following the increased scrutiny surrounding matters relating to our former shareholder, many suppliers undertook enhanced due diligence and, in some cases, temporarily adjusted their credit exposure while completing their internal reviews. Those decisions reflected their own governance processes rather than Oilmar's operational performance or financial commitments.

Our approach was simple: remain transparent, continue performing and let our actions speak for themselves.

Throughout this period, we maintained uninterrupted operations, honoured every contractual commitment and worked closely with suppliers, banks and insurers by providing the information they required.

Today, we have successfully restored the vast majority of those relationships and now work with more than 100 suppliers globally on credit terms.

To us, that represents more than restored credit - it represents restored confidence. Trust is earned through consistency, transparency and performance, and that has been our focus from day one.

Ship & Bunker: Governance appear to have become central to Oilmar's strategy. What has changed?

Tahira Shikhiyeva: Our governance programme is part of our long-term strategy for the future of Oilmar.

As the business continues to grow, our governance and compliance framework must evolve alongside it.

One of the most significant enhancements has been the evolution of our KYC framework.

Previously, all counterparties were subject to the same standard due diligence process. Today, we have adopted a risk-based KYC approach, whereby the level of due diligence is proportionate to the counterparties risk profile. This enables a more efficient onboarding experience for lower-risk counterparties while ensuring enhanced scrutiny and resources are directed where they are most needed.

We have also expanded our compliance tools and are currently implementing a confidential Compliance Hotline within our internal platform to further strengthen our culture of transparency, accountability and ethical business conduct.

Good governance should enable business - not slow it down.

Ship & Bunker: Customer experience has also become a strategic priority. Why?

Tahira Shikhiyeva: Because service is one of our greatest differentiators.

We have established a dedicated Customer Satisfaction & Operational Excellence function within Operations, and we will begin conducting regular customer satisfaction surveys to ensure we continue meeting the highest standards of professionalism, responsiveness and ethical business conduct.

As a B2B business, our objective is simple: create value for our customers. Long-term relationships are built on trust and service, not transactions alone.

Ship & Bunker: What should the market expect from Oilmar during the remainder of 2026?

Yusif Mammadov: We will continue executing the strategy we introduced and approved for 2026.

Our priorities remain sustainable growth, strong governance, operational excellence and empowering our people through a decentralised leadership model where each business area is led by experienced professionals accountable to the Board.

We are investing in our people, strengthening relationships with customers, suppliers and financial institutions, and continuing to build a business designed for long-term success.

Everything we are doing today is focused on building a stronger Oilmar for the future.

Ship & Bunker: Finally, when you look back over the past year, and then look ahead, what do you see?

Nain Shafi: From a financial perspective, the past year has demonstrated the strength and adaptability of Oilmar's business model. Despite operating in one of the most challenging and competitive trading environments in recent years, we remained profitable throughout 2025 while many market participants experienced significant pressure on margins and financial performance.

Looking ahead, we are optimistic about the second half of 2026. Supported by increased trading activity, the continued expansion of our banking relationships and the solid financial platform we have established, we expect our performance in the second half to exceed that of the first. We are therefore confident that 2026 will deliver a substantially stronger financial result than 2025 and further reinforce our long-term growth strategy.

Yusif Mammadov: Looking back, I see resilience.

Looking ahead, I see opportunity.

The progress we are reporting at tomorrow's Town Hall belongs to every member of our team, and together we will continue building a company that is stronger, more resilient and better positioned for the future.