WILLEMSTAD – While the management of 2Bays and the responsible minister remain silent, the top officials at the Ministry of Finance have once again raised alarms about the deteriorating liquidity position of 2Bays. According to the latest Financial Management Report (FMR), the company’s financial strain is expected to worsen over time, especially as the costly Emmastad operations have yet to be financially integrated.
The report highlights that “the operations of Emmastad involve very high costs, putting significant pressure on immediately available liquidity—something that was not anticipated in 2024 when the 30-year lease contract with Oryx was signed.” Notably, Oryx, owned by 60-year-old Qatari Ghanim Saad M. Alsaad Al-Kuwari, has recently rebranded as Vigor. However, this updated entity is not yet reflected in the Ministry’s report as the party involved in the lease agreement signed by 2Bays director Patrick Newton for the operation of Emmastad and Bullenbaai.
The contract originally assumed a full financial takeover by December 1, 2024. However, the ongoing losses of both 2Bays and its subsidiary CRU (Curaçao Refinery Utilities) cannot continue indefinitely under current conditions. The report warns that “the continuation of high (personnel) costs and limited operational activities, combined with the absence of substantial structural income, places 2Bays in a financial risk zone threatening its continuity.”
This is not the first time the Ministry of Finance has sounded the alarm. The issue was previously reported but was largely dismissed by the Pisas government. Now, the Ministry raises it again in its most recent ‘Risk Matrix.’
2Bays, formerly known as Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK), was once one of Curaçao’s most valuable public assets. However, the absence of a reliable operator, ongoing payments to (former) Isla refinery employees, and advanced payments of costs that should be borne by the former operator—the Venezuelan state oil company PdVSA—have pushed the company’s finances to the brink. PdVSA has also failed to honor agreed settlement arrangements, compounding 2Bays’ financial woes (see related story in this edition).
The 2024 financial audit of the 2Bays Group has been initiated by the Government Audit Office Foundation (Soab) as the external auditor and is expected to be completed soon with an unqualified opinion. Despite this, 2Bays’ annual reports are not made publicly available, and it remains unclear whether the Parliament even has access to them.
2Bays remains under the political responsibility of Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas (MFK) for the coming four years, as financial and operational uncertainties continue to cast a shadow over this critical government entity.
