WILLEMSTAD - Government owned company Refineria di Kòrsou is entitled to an amount of more than 52 million dollars from Refineria Isla. In addition to this amount, there was a $ 100 million claim on the table, but it was rejected.
This is evident from the verdict yesterday in the case of RdK against Refineria Isla Curaçao bv, Refineria Isla SA and the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA. Isla SA and PdVSA have been ordered to pay more than $ 45.6 million in connection with "take or pay" (TOP) payments.
The remaining part of approximately $ 7 million, for which Refineria Isla Curaçao has also been convicted, concerns bad debts from Girobank for the lease for November and December 2019 and a TOP payment of almost $ 3.8 million.
An interest of 10 percent per year is charged on the TOP amounts from the moment the payment became due and 3 percent interest on the lease payment. At the end of December 2019, the lease agreement with PdVSA and its subsidiary Isla SA expired.
The operation of the refinery is temporarily in the hands of the government company RdK and RdK subsidiary Curaçao Refinery Utilities (CRU) until the acquisition by Klesch Group. The approximately 900 employees of Isla are employed by CRU for a maximum of six months.
RdK is (on behalf of the country) owner of the refinery and oil terminal at Bullen Bay and since 2011, when the shares in Curaçao Utility Company Holding (CUCH) were taken over from Aqualectra and the Japanese consortium Mitsubishi-Marubeni, also from the central 'Build Own' Operate '(BOO).
The BOO power plant supplies electricity, steam, compressed air and distilled water to the refinery under the management of CRU. Refineria Isla Curaçao is a subsidiary of PdVSA and the plant operator until the end of last year. After the extension of the Lease Agreement in 2000, the lease has been set at $ 20 million per year. "Isla and PdVSA are jointly and severally liable for the rental debts," according to the judgment.
The court does not doubt the urgent importance of the claims of RdK as Isla / PdVSA 'is phasing out its work, while RdK has to take care of many costs regarding employees and maintenance of the BOO central'.