May 14, 2021:

Director of the Curaçao Refinery (RdK) Marcelino de Lannoy expects "a signed contract this month" with the Curaçao Oil Refinery Complex (CORC) consortium, the intended new operator of the Isla refinery. Once negotiations with the government are also concluded, the refinery may be handed over "before June 30". Several negotiations are still ongoing with the intended successor to PdvSA. RdK and CORC still have to make decisions about, among other things, the maintenance of the installations, rent or leasehold and the minimum throughput of crude oil. According to De Lannoy, these negotiations are going well. But those are not the only points on the negotiating table. CORC is still in talks with the government about matters such as employment, tax benefits and (environmental) permits. Only when all these matters have also been arranged will there be the green light for the acquisition of the refinery. "We think optimistically and believe that this will work before June 30," de Lannoy indicated. June 30 is an important date; then the employment contracts with the current employees of the refinery will expire. Rdk still employs 550 people from Isla.

By Curacao Chronicle