THE Government is paying a foreign evaluator almost TT $12 million to examine the nine bids for a lease of Petrotrin.And yet Indian industrialist Naveen Jindal – who has not submitted a formal bid! – is the frontrunner to secure the Pointe-a-Pierre plant.The $12 million for the current third bid is in addition to charges paid for two previous bid rounds.Experts estimate that the valuator, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., was paid similar sums for each of the previous bids.In addition, the total cost paid by the tender firms to present their bids could total up to $100,000 million, according to insiders.Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Ltd. (TPHL) has revealed in response to a Freedom of Information request that “the current engagement agreement” entitles Scotiabank to US $55,000 a month for four months, beginning February 21, 2024.Scotiabank is also receiving a US $1.5 million success fee.TPHL, chaired by Michael Quamina, said the bank’s job is to review information relating to the business, operations, financial performance, and prospects of the refinery.Scotiabank is also employed to review financial, market and industry information and conduct relevant valuation exercises.Further, the bank must advise and assist TPHL in the form and structure of the transaction, and in developing a marketing strategy.The bank is also to assist in negotiations with “potential counterparties, leading to the execution of the definitive agreements and closing.”The Freedom of Information request was made by Anthony Dopson, of Todd Street, San Fernando.Scotiabank was recruited for the two previous failed tender processes.Nine Trinidad and Tobago-based companies have submitted bids.They include Patriotic Energies and Technologies Company Ltd., a subsidiary of Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU), which represented the some 5,500 workers who were sent home when Petrotrin was shut down in November 2018.The other bidders are CRO Consortium, IEM Refinery Company, GN Fenceline, Columbus Refining Trinidad and Tobago, Ingetritus Group of Companies, Oando PLC, Nautical Partners, and INCA Refining.Jindal, head of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd., has not presented a bid and is not subject to evaluation by Scotiabank.But Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has been touting the Indian businessman and politician to take control of the Petrotrin operations.Rowley said critics are engaging in “stupid talk.”OWTU’s leader Ancel Roget has accused the Government of “extreme bias” and has pitched a political campaign against Rowley’s Government.In preparing their proposals, the nine local companies had to secure commitments of medium-term financing, source of feedstock, marketing opportunities, and other essentials,They each partnered with international firms.They also utilised the services of such companies as Solomon Associates, a US-based organisation that provides strategic insight across the energy industry “leading to greater efficiency, reliability and profitability.”The bidders were made to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA), which debar them from publicly discussing aspects of their respective tenders.Leasing Petrotrin to a non-national would be a reversal of an earlier Government policy of having “the commanding heights of the economy” owned by locals.