PM Moves To Stop Rubis Monopoly On Aviation Fuel

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Prime Minister Gaston Browne says he fears that the retail supplier of fuel services, Rubis, will hold the government at ransom if they are allowed to have a monopoly on Aviation Fuel.

The prime minister says his fears are based on the French company’s current relationship with operators in Antigua and Barbuda.

“Rubis is now seeking to displace the local gas station operators and we have made it abundantly clear that this will not happen,” Browne said on his radio station, Pointe FM over the weekend.

“And they continue to do things to frustrate them so, for example, they are now seeking to make the rent onerous,” the prime minister explained.

He told radio listeners that there was another major issue developing which he plans to address with Rubis.

It involves the sale of jet fuel at the airport.

Browne claims that as a result of the sale of SOL, “Rubis is now seeking to have a monopoly on Aviation Fuel sales at the airport.”

He called the development a “very dangerous situation.”

The prime minister said he wants the state-owned West Indies Oil Company (WIOC) to be given the rights to do a similar type business.

“But what we will be doing on Monday is to mandate to Rubis that they partner with West Indies Oil Company and Sol,” Browne disclosed.

“We want to have a situation between WIOC and sol they will control 50 per cent of the business and Rubis will control the other 50 per cent,” he said.

The prime minister insists that “there is no way we going to allow Rubis to have a monopoly on aviation fuel at the airport.”

He added “I am of the view that if we allow them to get a monopoly on aviation fuel at the airport they will hold this nation hostage so we will take the necessary steps to ensure that this does not happen.”

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15 COMMENTS

    • Welcome to the club Rubis the Puppet Master “dictator” wants NYAMCO Cut. Fall in line or ship out the socialist has spoken. Sandals, Scotiabank, sorry all banks and insurance profits OMG, Digicel, Flow and now Rubis. WOW….. who’s business next this man has his eyes on?

      • It is a proven fact that socialism does not work, at least not for the masses. Basic human nature is to work and gain for oneself and family…it’s called free enterprise. The idealism of ‘entrepreneurial socialism’ will take a country down in a very short space of time and the ONLY ones who gain out of it is the person/s with the power to manipulate funds for themselves out of the so called “sharing” businesses with the country. The businesses acquired by government under the claim of socialism will very quickly go downhill for the simple reason that there is no personal incentive for the masses employed to make that business profitable. FDI is and will dry up because persons with finances to make investments are NOT going to invest their hard earned assets with a government having control over THEIR profits. Taxation will become more horrendous than it is already to support a failing economy, and the middle classes (that are actually the supporting backbone of a country) will disappear turning this place into a far worse unkempt dump of garbage and crime than it is already. Free enterprise and honest competition is the proven way to have a spinning economy that works for the benefit of ALL; not the very few who have the power and therefore ability to channel unaccounted monies for themselves. Antigua and Barbuda needs a governing body who will genuinely work for the betterment of this country and we, the people, not this out of control give the country to foreigners for self-benefit that is happening now! WAKE UP TO REALITY ANTIGUA BEFORE IT SLAPS YOU IN THE FACE AND DON’T EXPECT SOMEBODY ELSE TO DO IT FOR YOU.

        • Are you not familiar with Anti-trust laws in the United States? Though I agree with you that this administration is economically socialist, regulation and prevention of monopoly is not unique to a socialist government. Easy examples are AT&T divestiture in 1984, Bill gates with Microsoft etc. So though we all know the downfalls of socialism, this development is not a tactic unique to socialism. In fact, the US government recently implemented tariffs on imports from foreign companies and countries to give domestic companies a level playing field. The difference is that there are no state owned companies in the US. I challenege you to take the time to investigate socialism and capitalism. What you will find is that there are no TRUE 100% capitalist or socialist government. This debate we have is only on paper, academically, theoretically and hypothetically. Its all a sham. The real difference between socialism and capitalism is that in socialism all the business men are also politicians, where in capitalism all the business men hire lobbyist to do their bidding. The concept of trickle down economics will be a huge challenge once technology replaces the labor force. Piece of advice, we should all dump this debate and realise that the most successful system is a hybrid, both capitalist snd socialist where beneficial. This is how the united states became great. Yes the USA is both capitalist and socialist.

          • @Knight in the chastity belt …. Do u have children? hope they don’t read your garbage u have single-handedly caused observer their listenership
            Man be positive for once

  3. Good thoughts and stance, but i wish this stance was taken with those who now have the power to “hold… this nation at ransom”.
    The people’s motto: COUNTRY AND ITS PEOPLE FIRST.

  4. Isn’t West Indies Oil Company already benefiting from selling fuel to Rubis? WIOC is the only supplier to Rubis.

  5. Interesting….. Now here is the spin, Rubies purchased those rights legitimately from texaco…. Yes there should be concerns about the monopolization of any resource… The Approach is what can hurt us in the long term but those that praise these actions are just living for the moment and not for the next Generation….. I will wait for the fallout, Rubies will not take bullying lying down!!!

  6. Nobody saw this comming when Rubis was buying rights and the sale of SOL. In the united states, Donald Trump just tried to block AT& T from buying a company because he figured they would have an unfair advantage. The government should have had more foresight to see where things were headed in this regulated industry. For the record, all governments regulate industries, so nobody should be crying abiut socialism here. That debate is useless, I challenge you to research both principles. However, Rubis is taking action within the legal framework of their rights to force out competition, hence the government is within it’s right to regulate that industry. If Runis is smart, they take the deal since WIOC will most likely not be fierce competition. They never have been even when texaco was big here.

  7. I agree with the PM, RUBIS should NOT HAVE a monopoly of aviation fuel supply BUT, APUA should also NOT have a monopoly on power generation, and telephone land lines, so this should be part of the discussion.

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