WILLEMSTAD - The Rotterdam oil company Count tries to gain control over the Isla oil refinery in Curaçao. An alleged corruption affair and the chaos in nearby Venezuela, where all the oil for the refinery comes from, does not deter the company from Rotterdam.

It seemed like done deal. The oil refinery Isla in Curaçao would be sold by the local government to the American Saudi company Motiva. Exclusive conversations have been held for months. But the deal ended earlier this month.

Bribes

The Americans withdrew because the director of the oil refinery would have demanded bribes from another interested party.

That happened with the Rotterdam commodity trader Count. An employee of that company was asked 750,000 dollars for so-called consultancy costs. That money was supposed to end up in the pockets of the director of the refinery. At Count, someone would have been prepared to pay the money, but it didn’t go through because the parties could not agree on the exact amount.

Full disclosure

Financial director Jeffrey Bollebakker of Count acknowledges that his company ended up in the corruption case. "We mentioned it, but the report was very suggestive, and we are convinced that we have done nothing wrong."

In the exclusive negotiations of the last few months, Motiva demanded total openness about the business and finally withdrew as a potential buyer. It did not want to be linked to corruption in any way.

In Curaçao large unrest arose because of the difficult situation where the refinery now landed. This is due to poor management but also due to the political and economic problems in Venezuela.

"We are interested again", says Bollebakker. "And we think we have a big chance." There were initially three interested parties, now that Motiva has pulled out there are two left."

He is not worried about the tense situation with Venezuela from where the refinery gets all its crude oil.

He expects that the tense situation will improve soon. However, patience is needed: "I think we will need half a year for this buying process." There is now a new selection committee that we must talk to, we have not seen them yet."