Celso Marranzini. File photo.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The buyout of Shell’s stake in the Dominican Refinery (Refidomsa) has sparked reactions by major business groups and economists, who say it’ll become another hotbed for cronyism or a white elephant.
Business leaders want the companies to be again privatized, beginning with the electricity distributors, and Refidomsa, because in their view nationalizing them jeopardizes marine, air and land transport, and transportation of industrial production.
Industralists say security controls are necessary in a company which handles volatile fuels and note that after the refinery’s purchase the State must place a private administration in the short term, until a bidding the it’s sold to the private sector.
Business leaders Lisandro Macarrulla, Celso Marranzini, William Malamud, Manuel Diez Cabral, Jesus Moreno, Ignacio Méndez, and Pablo Piantini agree that the purchase sent "a cold signal” to investors.
Marranzini says the best thing the Government can do is not only to sell the refinery but all nationalized companies, including the electricity distributors. “Based on the experience on everything the State has administered, I believe that we should be in panic."
The ex central banker Jose Lois Malkun also criticized the purchase of Shell’s stake, arguing that it should be sold to the private sector.
Last month the Government and Shell announced that they reached an agreement “in principle” for the purchase of the latter’s stake for US$110 million.
In November, president Leonel Fernandez said the buyout of Shell’s stake is part of several measures to save energy, and that it will allow deriving more benefits from the Petrocaribe oil accord with Venezuela.
Written by: juanb, 9 Jun 2008 9:08 AM
From: Dominican Republic
Anyone who is aware of the bloating of the payroll in the electric companies (the number of employees has tripled and the payroll is out of control) can be sure that the same will happen once the government buys this refinery.
From: United States
The government of Teflon Fernandez will never let go of its corrupt cash cows.
Buying Refidomsa is just another entity that they will add to their herd of milkable assets.
From: United States, Killeen, TX - Home of the 1st Cavalry
The expansion of the "Government employee base" has always been a problem with left leaning governments.
The expansion, rather than the austerity in government operations and employment is one of the major factors of contention between Capitalism and Socialism andthe effect these systems of economics have on nations.
Suffice to say, in a nation deficient in natural resources, such as the DR, Socialism results in derrogation of all natural government services to the public at large.
That's the way socialism works. however, for the politicians, it proves to be a boon to their continued tenure as long as the public believes their hogwash.
TB
From: United States
Both " Big Business and Government " are to blame for the state of the economic. They are both competing with each others in the controls of prices and investments. They careless about the greater majorities of dominicans who are working for minimun wages that don't reflect the costs of living. They talk of everything else but provinding for real wages to the majority and when they raise the minimun wage big business and even smaller business raise their prices, especially the basic food items. Today they relied on the remitances send by dominicans, with the attitude that " you received dollars, so you can afford my prices ". Dominican Republic is no longer for the native dominican that don't have a relative living, working and sending money from outside D.R. What the governments owned is just as if big business owned cause the government is big business as well.
Written by: Belial, 9 Jun 2008 11:17 AM
From: United States, Texas
Shell, which is as private as company can get, was caught committing every manner of fraud at the refinery. Private corruption exceeded public corruption, plus shell was inefficient and unsafe in its operation of the refinery, toxic emissions sometimes sent hundreds of residents to hospital.
Suddenly, this "private sector," the same old inapt bourgeoisie under another name, says "We run can run the refinery better than the state. Sell it to us and state must give the private sector the money to buy it, as it does almost everything else."
Bourgeois parasites want to get their greedy hands on 60,000 barrels a day of discounted Petrocaribe oil from Venezuela bought at the ridiculously low price of $50 cash a barrel, more than 50% less than market price, with much of the half-billion dollars in the resulting savings used to subsidize electricity generation and distribution for the Dominican people.
The parasites can sell $50 barells to foreign oil companies for $75 a barrel.
Written by: Belial, 9 Jun 2008 11:41 AM
From: United States, Texas
With the refinery in the state hands, the DR is in good shape to get an huge increase of its daily Petrocaribe quota from 60 barrels of oil a day to 120,000 barrels a day, about 100% of the DR average daily oil imports at an unbelievably low Petrocaribe price of $50 a barrel.
Only bourgeois parasites believe that this corrupt and inefficient "private sector" can run the 33,000-barrel refinery, anywhere near this level of profitability.
Plus, Shell sold the DR a pile of junk taken piece-meal from de-commissioned oil refineries all over the world. The refinery badly needs modernization, something that is available from Petrocaribe at a reasonable price as the renovation last year of the refinery at Cienfuegos, Cuba shows.
Also, the DR needs another refinery for home consumption and for the sale of refining capacity. If the so-called "private sector" knows so much, why doesn't it build it own refinery in the DR with the help of its slimy imperialist friends.
Written by: Belial, 9 Jun 2008 11:48 AM
From: United States, Texas
It is far better that money from the refinery go to pay the wages of additional refinery workers, to subsidize food for the people, and to subsidize electricity for Dominican consumers than go to parasites of the local and foreign bourgeoisie in the form of dividends on stock shares, interests on bonds, bloated executive salaries and a limitless range of questionable fees.
Written by: Belial, 9 Jun 2008 12:04 PM
From: United States, Texas
"The buyout of Shell’s stake in the Dominican Refinery (Refidomsa) has sparked reactions by major business groups and economists," the DT reports
0000
"Economists"?
Which ones?
Surely they don't mean Bernardo Vega, et. al., the reactionary PRD mouthpiece and dinosaur out of Jurassic Park.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
we better rip off nutty hugo for all we can now.... he is not going to around for very long...it keeps getting worse there and he keeps getting crazier
Written by: BLANCO, 9 Jun 2008 12:32 PM
From: Dominican Republic
MALKUN.. one of the authors along with mejia, calderon, and andy the brain of the great baninter government take over. read 2 billion dollars and making the poor poorer. which reminds me 75% of the deposits covered by the mejia govt where in 19 accounts. The names of those accounts were never revealed because of NATIONAL SECURITY (MEJIAS WORDS NOT MINE)
Written by: Belial, 9 Jun 2008 2:03 PM
From: United States, Texas
"MALKUN.. one of the authors along with mejia, calderon, and andy the brain of the great baninter government take over."
0000
Jose Lois Malkun graduated summa cum laude from the Meyer Lansky school of finance at Sing Sing.
Malkun's dissertation was on complex and large-scale fraud.
Reportedly. Malkun's idol is George C. Parker.
George Parker (1870-1936) was one of the most audacious con men in US history. He made his living selling New York's public landmarks to unwary tourists. His favorite object for sale was the Brooklyn Bridge, which he sold twice a week for years. He convinced his marks that they could make a fortune by controlling access to the roadway. More than once police had to roust naive buyers from the bridge as they tried to erect toll barriers.
Other public landmarks he sold included the original Madison Square Garden, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant's Tomb and the Statue of Liberty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._ParkerWritten by: juanb, 9 Jun 2008 3:58 PM
From: Dominican Republic
You have to feel really sorry for this loser belial. No one will listen to his incoherent bourgeois ravings so instead he bombards us with this crap. GO AWAY, Please.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
the master of the cut and paste gets wacked again
Written by: DennisC, 9 Jun 2008 6:44 PM
From: United States
Right now, that is a white elephans for any sector,
public or private,
if a monster like Shell wants to get rid of that refinery,
that should be the best sign of the troubles to face government or private,
and of course, government ruling that refinery?
more than a panic, should be terrible.
Written by: Adrix, 9 Jun 2008 10:31 PM
From: United States
A LESSON TO REMEMBER. In 1996 the President Leonel though that selling all government assets to the public sector it was the best way to get rid of inefficient management and saving money for the people. It was a fiasco. A total disaster for the government and the public, that never saw any kind of benefit with the privatization. Now the electricity is sucking millions of dollars in subsidy with poor services. When Shell announced the sale of the stake in Refidomisa, no one of these people was interested. Now they are attracted, not only for the cheap price the government it is going to get, but for the big opportunity to make money with these crazy oil prices. The President Leonel has learned the lesson. Its is better this white elephant in the hands of the State, than in hands of these people looking only for their own interest. The only beneficiaries will be the stockholders, the same way that with the electricity that they make money producing or not one single kilowatt.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Old cut and paste with no brain strikes again.....Resident commie stooge if he ever had a thought it would be very lonely....He is a bitter immigrant who came to America in a styrofoam cup and now bites the hand that feeds him....ungrateful pathetic loser aka. " the wanker from wiki "
From: Dominican Republic
DennisC hits the nail on the head. At a buck Shell is laughing all the way to the bank. Even with scrap prices the way they are you would have to pay someone to take that thing that was built in the 70's and never renovated.
Belive it or not old "worthless cut and paste" makes some very good points (whether intended or not). For instance, the facility only has a refining capacity of 33k bbs/day.....so, Belial what are we going to do with the extra 87k bbs/day of crude that you propose we can get cheap from Uncle Hugo. By the way, not so cheap as you think they are. For instance, those 500 homes "donated" for hurricane relief...yeah...paid for by the DR with the Petrocaribe funds. Of the 500 how many arrived? 100! Of those 100, how many have left the Port of Haina and been errected? 0! Of the cost of those homes how much went to the manufacturer? A little less than 80% ! Where is the rest you ask? I dunno...let's ask Rubirosa.
From: Dominican Republic
By the way TexasBill. I dissagree with your classification of PLD as "left leaning". More like they speak out of the left side of their mouth but beyond that there is nothing left or right about them. They have no politics. They abandon that whith the party principals.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
Maldito if commie stooge made a good point he would not know it ...it is all cut and paste ....wanker from wiki material
From: Dominican Republic
Oh, goulet...thanks for the insight. Probably saved me hundreds of keystrokes.
From: Cuba, it is a secret the censors are looking for me
resident commie stooge remember the great bourgeoisie will grind and crush you under the wheels of their gilded carriages as they pass by
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The government of Teflon Fernandez will never let go of its corrupt cash cows.
Buying Refidomsa is just another entity that they will add to their herd of milkable assets.
The expansion, rather than the austerity in government operations and employment is one of the major factors of contention between Capitalism and Socialism andthe effect these systems of economics have on nations.
Suffice to say, in a nation deficient in natural resources, such as the DR, Socialism results in derrogation of all natural government services to the public at large.
That's the way socialism works. however, for the politicians, it proves to be a boon to their continued tenure as long as the public believes their hogwash.
TB
Suddenly, this "private sector," the same old inapt bourgeoisie under another name, says "We run can run the refinery better than the state. Sell it to us and state must give the private sector the money to buy it, as it does almost everything else."
Bourgeois parasites want to get their greedy hands on 60,000 barrels a day of discounted Petrocaribe oil from Venezuela bought at the ridiculously low price of $50 cash a barrel, more than 50% less than market price, with much of the half-billion dollars in the resulting savings used to subsidize electricity generation and distribution for the Dominican people.
The parasites can sell $50 barells to foreign oil companies for $75 a barrel.
Only bourgeois parasites believe that this corrupt and inefficient "private sector" can run the 33,000-barrel refinery, anywhere near this level of profitability.
Plus, Shell sold the DR a pile of junk taken piece-meal from de-commissioned oil refineries all over the world. The refinery badly needs modernization, something that is available from Petrocaribe at a reasonable price as the renovation last year of the refinery at Cienfuegos, Cuba shows.
Also, the DR needs another refinery for home consumption and for the sale of refining capacity. If the so-called "private sector" knows so much, why doesn't it build it own refinery in the DR with the help of its slimy imperialist friends.
0000
"Economists"?
Which ones?
Surely they don't mean Bernardo Vega, et. al., the reactionary PRD mouthpiece and dinosaur out of Jurassic Park.
0000
Jose Lois Malkun graduated summa cum laude from the Meyer Lansky school of finance at Sing Sing.
Malkun's dissertation was on complex and large-scale fraud.
Reportedly. Malkun's idol is George C. Parker.
George Parker (1870-1936) was one of the most audacious con men in US history. He made his living selling New York's public landmarks to unwary tourists. His favorite object for sale was the Brooklyn Bridge, which he sold twice a week for years. He convinced his marks that they could make a fortune by controlling access to the roadway. More than once police had to roust naive buyers from the bridge as they tried to erect toll barriers.
Other public landmarks he sold included the original Madison Square Garden, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant's Tomb and the Statue of Liberty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Parker
public or private,
if a monster like Shell wants to get rid of that refinery,
that should be the best sign of the troubles to face government or private,
and of course, government ruling that refinery?
more than a panic, should be terrible.
Belive it or not old "worthless cut and paste" makes some very good points (whether intended or not). For instance, the facility only has a refining capacity of 33k bbs/day.....so, Belial what are we going to do with the extra 87k bbs/day of crude that you propose we can get cheap from Uncle Hugo. By the way, not so cheap as you think they are. For instance, those 500 homes "donated" for hurricane relief...yeah...paid for by the DR with the Petrocaribe funds. Of the 500 how many arrived? 100! Of those 100, how many have left the Port of Haina and been errected? 0! Of the cost of those homes how much went to the manufacturer? A little less than 80% ! Where is the rest you ask? I dunno...let's ask Rubirosa.