Financial Policy
Our stocks and operational costs are financed with a stockholding levy and loans with the Dutch state, offering a solid financial position.
Financial policy
COVA is a not-for-profit foundation. We fund our oil stock purchases with loans we take out from the Ministry of Finance under the terms of treasury banking. The Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth guarantees the loans contracted up to €1,465 million. This offers sufficient scope for funding the purchase of the necessary stocks. The law provides that the State will be liable for any debts of COVA which remain after its winding-up as a legal person (Section 25 of the Petroleum Products Stockpiling Act (Wva)).
COVA’s operating costs are funded from a stockholding levy on oil products. The Wva has set the stockholding levy at 0.8 cent per litre, and this is included in the fuel price at the pump. The income which COVA receives therefore moves in line with the annual consumption of gasoline, diesel and LPG.
Costs and revenue
COVA’s operating costs are mostly costs of leasing storage facilities. In addition, there are costs of inspection, insurance, logistics and interest payments on the loans outstanding with the government. The organisation’s expenditure consists of staff costs, accommodation costs and IT. COVA aims to use operating surpluses to pay off loans. In this way, we prevent a situation in which future generations have to bear the costs incurred at present.
COVA’s stocks are valued at historical cost, where necessary adjusted to a lower market value. These stocks represent more than 90% of COVA’s balance sheet total.
Financial statements
Financial statements We publish our financial statements online. As well as presenting the operating figures in these statements, we describe the developments on the (international) oil and oil storage markets and explain how they were taken into account in our risk analysis. We also take a detailed look at COVA’s stockholding overview and governance. The financial statements are submitted for approval to the Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth.
2023 An eventful year
In 2023, the oil markets admirably dealt with the consequences of the import sanctions on Russian oil. In addition, COVA completed the purchase of an extra 500 kt of diesel assigned by the Minister for Climate Policy and Green Growth in 2022. Despite this increase in the strategic stock, which entailed a rise in expenditure, COVA’s financial situation remained healthy in 2023. The Dutch strategic oil stock (of COVA and the business sector), comprising more than 90 days of inland consumption, provides sufficient security. And for the first time in our 45-year history, we added a renewable product to our stock. Read more in our 2023 annual report.
WNT register
The financial statements contain a clarification of the annual figures and information in the context of the Senior Executives in the Public and Semi-Public Sector (Standards for Remuneration) Act (WNT). The WNT data forms an integral part of the annual financial report and accounts on which an audit opinion is issued. As a legal person with a statutory task, COVA is subject to the WNT and makes its data for previous years publicly accessible.