Santo Domingo.- The CEO of the Dominican State-owned refinery(Refidomsa) on Tuesday said it will invest US$150 million to expand its storagecapacity by 75% and to build the facility’s own port.
Felix Jimenez, who made the announcement during a meetingwith media directors and executives, said the investment doesn’t require onedollar from the Dominican government, or its partner Venezuela, “thanks to the company’sability to receive funding on its own merits.”
He said the investment would be recouped in three to fouryears on lower freight costs because the expansion will allow importing nearlytwice the fuel that it brings now. "That means that the DominicanPetroleum Refinery has in itself an important funding capacity, which Fellerand Fitch, which are risk rating companies, have placed A Plus, A + in recentyears."
The official said Refidomsa went from A- to A + in the lasttwo years, and as a result of that rating, all banks in the Dominican Republic haveapproached them to offer financing.