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Aruba Council of Ministers welcome Valero CEO Bill Klesse |
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Monday, 15 August 2011 23:26 |
Prime Minister Eman said Klesse was visiting Aruba for the first time since their conversation which led to the reopening of the refinery. Eman explained that they would be talking about the process of converting the refinery, which currently conducts many processes on fuel oil, to work with natural gas. He hopes Aruba and Valero can synchronize their efforts with that of the local water and electricity production plant, WEB, and reach a joint-venture. He added it was also a good opportunity to express the community's appreciation and gratitude personally to the CEO who kept Valero Aruba employees on payroll while the refinery was closed. The prime minister remembers when Klesse called to tell him that the refinery was going to be shut down and he asked him to keep on the employees as the government was in talks with Petro China. Otherwise, 700 Arubans would be out of a job. Eman remembers how at two occasions Klesse called to tell him it was no longer possible to keep on the employees. Valero would lay off everyone in December 2009, but Klesse said he was sending a delegation to Aruba in January to finalize the termination. After December, there still was no potential buyer for the refinery and Eman once again asked Klesse to negotiate and try to move obstacles from the way. During the meeting, an MOU was reached, followed by a Settlement Agreement. In conclusion, Klesse was notified that the government was offering to solve a BBO, turnover tax, issue, with the introduction of a new fiscal law. Valero would pay 200 million and the rest would be exonerated. Following these proposals, a delegation negotiated with the government and the refinery was reopened.
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