WILLEMSTAD - The government-owned company Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) was unable to reach an agreement with the Venezuelan State Oil Company PdVSA on the duration of the transition period until Klesch Group is expected to take over the refinery in mid-2020.

This means that PdVSA, after being the operator for 34 years, will no longer operate the refinery after this coming Wednesday. After the lease contract with PdVSA has been terminated and until the takeover by Klesch, RdK itself will take care of the operation of the refinery. This was announced by Marcelino Delannooy during a press conference last night together with Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath.

After having stood with its back to against the wall for a long time, Curaçao took matters into its own hands.

“All employees of Isla are offered an employment contract by the Curaçao Refinery Utility (CRU),” acting RdK director Marcelino "Chonky" De Lannoy announced. CRU offers work and income to all refinery employees (about 900 in total) under the same conditions for a transition period of six months.

The government and PdVSA held intensive consultations during the past weeks. The main aim was to reach a transition contract whereby PdVSA would continue to run the refinery for a certain period of time in order to meet its obligations and the staff could continue to work until the Klesch Group took over the operation. The starting point was a contract of a maximum of one year with a notice period of three months, starting on 31 March 2020. In fact, it therefore concerns a contract of at least six months.

“Like any employer, PdVSA must also comply with the law and, for example, pay cessantia. The employee whose employment agreement is terminated without fault on his part or for a reason that cannot be attributed to him is entitled to a onetime monetary compensation known as the “cessantia” (provided the employee has been employed at least one year).

PDVSA must also pay pensions from its staff and provide health insurance. In this context, in connection with the redundancy scheme, RdK has offered PdVSA to take on crude oil instead of money, in order to prevent PdVSA from not meeting its financial obligations because it would not have access to funds,” explains Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath .