WILLEMSTAD - Prime Minister Rhuggenaath has advised the trade unions representing the refinery employees to consult with the bankers' association CBA.
The reason is the possible closure of the refinery. The banks could then make room for flexible handling of loan payment terms. The issue is that the more than a thousand employees who work directly for Refineria Isla / PdVSA and have car and other loans and mortgage financing, in the case of large-scale redundancies are unlikely to be able to meet their financial repayment obligations; after all, they have lost their jobs and therefore their fixed income.
In such a case, the bank can act leniently for a certain period. Most local banks and financial institutions agreed to a grace period, in which individual account holders are temporarily exempt from payment and sometimes also interest payments.
The future of the refinery's survival seven months before the lease contract with the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA officially expires, is still very uncertain, now that no contract has yet been signed with or the prospect of a, new operator. The jobs of more than a thousand employees are at stake, which is already the case for the same number or more who work indirectly - via (sub) contractors - for the Isla.