ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Wednesday April 1, 2015, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it will take full ownership of the petroleum company, West Indies Oil Company Limited (WIOC).
A government statement said that Prime Minister Gaston Browne is leading a three-member delegation to Britain where the agreement to change ownership of the company will be signed with the principals of National Petroleum Limited NPL.
“At about 12 noon on Wednesday, we will complete the purchase of WIOC and the government and people will own one hundred per cent of WIOC. That also includes approximately 280 acres of land… that will be passed on to the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” Prime Minister Browne told reporters prior to his departure for London.
“We have engineered this deal in such a way that we would not have incurred one dollar in debt or spent one dollar in acquiring WIOC. So by setting this vision in transforming Antigua and Barbuda into an economic powerhouse, it is a serious vision and we are working relentlessly in achieving this vision.
“We are working smart and hard and we are exercising the type of discipline to ensure that we produce and create value for the people of Antigua and Barbuda,” Prime Minister Browne said.
“I am confident that it is just a matter of time before Antigua and Barbuda is acknowledged as an economic powerhouse in the region,” he added.
Soon after coming to office in June last year, the government said it would fulfill the election campaign promise to acquire all WIOC shares.
The government entered into an agreement with Venezuela that will own 25 per cent of the shares in the company and a Chinese investor who will own 24 per cent.
“The government will maintain majority shares in the company, most of which it will divest to the people of Antigua and Barbuda over time,” a government statement added.
Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/business/antigua-and-barbuda-overnment-takes-full-control-of-west-indies-oil-company#ixzz3XTXslpiW
