Santo Domingo. - Treasury minister Vicente Bengoa on Monday said Venezuela has yet to officially notify that it has desisted from purchasing a stake Dominican Republic’s only refinery REFIDOMSA, and the fact that negotiations began several months ago doesn’t mean they’ve failed.

He said the negotiations have been postponed several times because the plan was for president Hugo Chavez to come the country, which hasn’t been possible. He noted that the people involved in the talks haven’t been able to come to the country to conclude the process because they “are very busy.”

The official said the situation cannot be described as strange and that the Government isn’t in a hurry to sell REFIDOMSA and if the deal doesn’t materialize they’ll do what’s best for the Dominican State.

Bengoa added that in negotiations which have lasted around one year a 15 day or one month wait doesn’t mean anything.

Private sector

As to REFIDOMSA’s possible purchase by the private sector, Bengoa clarified that it’s not that he’s against that they acquire it, rather the return to the previous system with the oil company Shell, which he said turned it into a monopoly.

Bengoa, interviewed on Channel 9, said a mogul could acquire the refinery to take it out of the market and that isn’t convenient for the country. “You cannot place the Refinery into hands of one sector to manage it.”