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Viewing cable 07SANTODOMINGO2343, BIOFUELS PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07SANTODOMINGO2343 2007-10-16 18:51 2011-08-26 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Santo Domingo
VZCZCXYZ0017
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #2343/01 2891851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161851Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9401
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0255
UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 002343 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR MATT MCMANUS AND FAITH CORNELIUS IN EEB/ESC/IEC/EPC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG EAID ECON DR
SUBJECT: BIOFUELS PARTNERSHIP LAUNCHED BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN 
 
1. (U) Summary:  The U.S. and Brazilian Embassies launched 
the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership in the Dominican 
Republic at the Brazilian Embassy on September 28. 
Consultants from both countries introduced their programs for 
identifying opportunities to assist the Dominican Republic to 
develop its biofuels industry and spent the following week 
meeting with relevant stakeholders to develop recommendations 
for support.  As a result of a confluence of circumstances, 
including high global energy prices, an approaching 
presidential election, and the country,s complete reliance 
on imported fuel, there appears to be broad political support 
for the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership,s goals.  Despite 
this political support there are a number of challenges 
remaining to successful implementation, including a lack of 
clearly articulated government decision-making procedures and 
structures, land title conflicts, uncertainty about the 
fiscal impact and tax implications of biofuels blending or 
production, and the continuing debate over biofuels, impact 
on food prices for the poor. End Summary. 
 
U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership Launched 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) On September 28, the U.S. and Brazilian governments 
sponsored an event to officially launch the U.S.-Brazil 
Biofuels Partnership in the Dominican Republic.  The event, 
which was widely covered by local print and television 
journalists, was positively received by Dominican government 
representatives in attendance.  At the event, the Charge 
d,Affaires introduced the USTDA-sponsored consultants from 
Winrock International and the Brazilian Ambassador introduced 
the APEX-sponsored consultants from the Fundacao Getulio 
Vargas (FGV).  The launch event was preceded the week before 
by the timely visit of a Public Affairs and Econ Section 
sponsored independent speaker series on biofuels development 
in the region.  This independent speaker successfully raised 
awareness among university students, with the media, and 
among key government stakeholders about the potential for 
biofuels production to meet the Dominican Republic,s energy 
diversification needs, and in the process paved the way for 
the successful launch of the biofuels partnership. 
 
Winrock Comes to the DR 
----------------------- 
 
3. (U) Winrock International visited the Dominican Republic 
from September 27 to October 6 to conduct a scoping mission 
to identify opportunities for feasibility studies and 
technical assistance to support development of a local 
biofuels industry.  Winrock will draft a report with 
recommendations for USTDA assistance by the end of October 
with assistance likely to commence early next year.  While in 
town, Winrock met with private sector and non-governmental 
groups in the process of developing specific project 
proposals to exploit bioenergy resources as well as 
established energy companies such as Shell and Chevron.  With 
the assistance of the Embassy, Winrock also met with 
government ministries engaged in renewable energy, including 
the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (SEIC), National Energy 
Commission (CNE), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Ministry 
of Economy, Planning and Development (SEEPD), Ministry of 
Environment (SEMARANA), the Dominican Agrarian Institute 
(IAD), the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), and the 
Ministry of Agriculture.  These meetings were important to 
assess the technical assistance needs and to gauge interest 
in biofuels development.  Consultants from FGV attended most 
of the government meetings organized by Post for Winrock. 
FGV was particularly interested in data related to 
agriculture, environment, mapping, and other information 
necessary to put together a national study for long-term 
biofuels planning. 
 
Potential Areas for Assistance 
------------------------------ 
 
4. (U) Winrock has identified a range of potential areas 
where technical assistance and feasibility studies could 
catalyze biofuels.  Most importantly, Winrock is likely to 
recommend a small feasibility study to be conducted for the 
country,s sole oil refinery (Refidomsa) to construct the 
storage and blending infrastructure for mixing ethanol with 
gasoline.  As the country,s sole import point for oil and 
gasoline, blending infrastructure at Refidomsa would be ideal 
to get the process started.  The blend could begin with the 
replacement of MTBE, which is currently blended with gasoline 
at about two percent and has been phased out in the U.S. 
Discussions with government officials indicate there is a 
possibility that implementing regulations from recently 
passed renewable energy legislation, which are due to be 
published by the CNE on November 6, will articulate a clear 
mandate for blending ethanol with an initial target of 5 
percent.  However, the draft regulations are still under 
consideration and no final decisions have been made.  While 
the SEIC has elaborated a draft plan to begin blending based 
on older legislation, the new regulations would be essential 
to secure the buy-in of other actors in the energy sector. 
 
5. (U) Asked why the refinery, which is a 50-50 joint venture 
between Shell Oil and the Dominican government, has not 
already initiated a plan to blend ethanol and build the 
necessary storage tanks, the president of the government,s 
administrative council of Refidomsa, Ruben Montas, informed 
Winrock and EconOff that they were waiting for the sale of 
Shell,s shares in the refinery to be finalized before 
initiating any new projects.  However, Montas expressed 
interest in the concept.  Shell,s local representative 
merely stated that they had not pursued blending because they 
were currently divesting from the country, selling not only 
their share of the refinery but also their numerous gas 
stations.  The announcement of the sale was expected in 
August but has been postponed on several occasions.  Shell 
stated that they would be providing their nominated candidate 
for the sale on or about the 5th of October, but the 
government will have 60 days to consider the selection and 
respond to Shell, meaning a decision is not likely before 
early December. 
 
6. (U) In addition to a small feasibility study on blending, 
Winrock has identified the reform of the fuel tax structure 
for possible technical assistance, possibly through the OAS. 
The potential of this initiative was bolstered on October 5 
when the new Minister of Industry and Commerce announced 
plans to revisit the hydrocarbons law and its regulations to 
look for opportunities to diversify and reform the tax 
structure to reduce energy costs.  Post intends to schedule a 
meeting with the new Minister to raise the issue of blending 
ethanol as well as the potential for technical assistance on 
regulatory reform once Winrock's recommendations are 
finalized. 
 
7. (U) Over the course of the week Winrock conducted site 
visits with several private sector groups currently in the 
process of developing projects and found several potentially 
worthwhile initiatives.  Among the ideas that might require 
feasibility studies are jatropa and sweet sorghum projects in 
the border region, a small scale ethanol project in the 
eastern sugar plantations and a large scale project being 
developed by one of the traditional sugar family companies, 
the Vicini Group, which envisions a facility to produce 
50,000 to 75,000 liters per day.  This project is targeted at 
both local consumption and potential export. 
 
Broad Political Support for the Initiative 
------------------------------------------ 
 
8. (U) President Leonel Fernandez, who has consistently cited 
the threat posed by rising energy prices to the stability of 
the Dominican economy, declared at a press conference on 
October 6 that the development of alternative energies, and 
specifically biofuels, will be essential for both domestic 
consumption and possible export.  Fernandez has cited 
biofuels and renewable energy repeatedly as important for the 
Dominican Republic given its nearly complete reliance on 
imported sources of energy, including at the recent summit of 
PetroCaribe.  Political support for biofuels development 
stretches across political party boundaries.  At the official 
launching of the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Initiative at the 
Brazilian Embassy on September 28, the chairman of the 
Chamber of Deputies, Energy and Mines Committee, Pelligrin 
Castillo, said, &We are all in agreement that more needs to 
be done to secure greater energy security in the Dominican 
Republic.8  He went on to describe multiple ongoing projects 
that have potential and discussed the need to encourage 
similar development in Haiti.  In addition, members of the 
Dominican Senate and Chamber of Deputies, from both the 
ruling PLD and the main opposition PRD, attended the public 
affairs speaker series on biofuels on September 18 organized 
by the CNE and expressed support for the initiative.  The 
confluence of high energy prices, a looming presidential 
election in May, and the Dominican Republic,s absolute 
reliance on imported fuel, have all combined to generate a 
tremendous amount of political support for biofuels 
production and the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership. 
 
Challenges Remain 
----------------- 
 
9. (SBU) Despite the broad political support for the 
initiative, the Dominican government lacks a clear 
coordinating authority to help push and implement the outcome 
 
of Winrock,s and FGV,s findings.  The structure of the 
energy sector is such that there are multiple, and often 
competing government agencies -- all with a role to play and 
no clearly identified focal point for decision-making. 
During Winrock,s visit, no less than four separate 
government ministries appeared to claim responsibility for 
coordinating events.  Post made sure to include all parties 
in the discussions and provide opportunities for each 
ministry to have input into Winrock,s work.  However, the 
lack of clear organization is a major challenge to 
implementation of initiatives. 
 
10. (SBU) As an example of the lack of coordination and 
in-fighting between ministries, someone from the CNE 
complained that the SEIC is still collecting gasoline tax 
money, which should now be going to the CNE, and spending it 
on &solar panels to buy political support,8 rather than on 
coordinated development of renewable energies.  CNE and SEIC 
are also quibbling over what proposals should take priority 
and appear to be unaware of what each other is doing to 
promote biofuels and renewable energies.  CNE,s director of 
renewable energy, Doroteo Rodriguez, even predicted that the 
Non-Conventional Energy Office at SEIC could be rolled into 
the CNE following more consultation meetings between the 
parties.  However, since the last coordination meeting held 
on September 28, there have been no changes in the government 
structures. 
 
11. (U) Land rights are also a hurdle to successful 
implementation.  With the large sugar producers unlikely to 
convert currently active sugar plantations to ethanol 
production as a result of the highly beneficial U.S. sugar 
quota, the bulk of the land available for large scale ethanol 
production is fallow sugar fields that are predominately 
owned by the government,s State Sugar Council (CEA). 
Although there is land available, it is extremely difficult 
to get clear answers about who holds the rights to develop 
certain fields.  In some instances competing sugar companies 
have laid claim to the same fields and CEA has been publicly 
implicated in property disputes. 
 
12. (U) In addition, there are a range of questions about 
what has happened to fallow government owned sugar fields 
over the course of the past 25 years, including indications 
that large squatter populations or alternative unsanctioned 
development may have risen up.  According to the executive 
director of CEA, Enrique Martinez, there are an estimated 
20,000 people living on the land that private groups have 
identified for sugar production for ethanol that would need 
to be resettled.  Asked if alternative land has already been 
identified, Martinez told EconOff that CEA has plenty of 
available land and that resettlement would provide these 
people with access to better housing, clean water, 
electricity and other basic services.  Martinez also said the 
resettlement would be done at government expense, although 
construction of new facilities and other details have not yet 
commenced.  The prospect of such a large scale resettlement, 
which could also raise issues related to undocumented workers 
of Haitian descent, could pose a huge political stumbling 
block.  These issues would need to be dealt with by the 
government prior to the initiation of any new planting or 
harvesting and would be sensitive politically in the lead up 
to elections.   Without clear land rights or land use 
decisions, it is difficult to imagine the kind of investments 
necessary to develop large scale biofuels production. 
 
13. (U) With the Dominican government reliant on high 
gasoline taxes, there is some concern about what the fiscal 
impact of blending ethanol will be and how it will be taxed. 
Although identified by Winrock as an area for technical 
assistance as mentioned above, uncertainty about the fiscal 
consequences of ethanol production or blending is widespread. 
 A respected economic journalist and former Dominican 
Ambassador to the U.S., Bernando Vega, wrote an article 
several months ago expressing skepticism about ethanol 
precisely because of the tax structures in place in the 
country.  In follow-up statement on Dominican television on 
October 11, Vega recommended that ethanol not be taxed in 
order to reduce fuel costs. 
 
14. (U) Finally, there is the debate about the impact of 
biofuels production on global food prices.  The DR is 
sensitive to global prices given its dependence on imports. 
President Fernandez raises concerns about the impact of 
global biofuels production on food prices in his public 
remarks and the issue was raised, although only in passing, 
at nearly all of the public speaker series events in 
mid-September.  However, there appears to be widespread 
consensus that there will be virtually no impact on food 
production in the DR from local biofuels production because 
most of the land to be used for biofuels is either fallow 
sugar cane fields or underutilized land along the border. 
There are no projects that currently entail crop switching 
from food producing land. 
 
15. (U) While President Fernandez and other government 
officials appear to view biofuels as a viable option for the 
country,s energy future, the Dominican government continues 
to pursue other options for reducing the burden of rising 
energy costs.  For example, the Minister of Finance just 
returned from a trip to Venezuela seeking an increase in 
their oil quota from 30,000 barrels/day to 50,000 
barrels/day.  Last week the Ministry of Industry and Commerce 
introduced an energy contingency plan, which includes a heavy 
emphasis on energy conservation, and announced its decision 
to reconsider the hydrocarbons law to look at the tax 
implications of various policy alternatives.  This review 
could conceivably include the introduction of ethanol into 
the fuel mix for gasoline. 
 
16. (U) Comment: The recent run-up in imported fuel prices 
has created hardship locally, creating an opening for 
opposition parties to demand reductions in fuel costs. The 
main opposition presidential candidate also proposed a 20 
percent reduction in electricity rates in a speech last week. 
 The introduction of biofuels in the Dominican Republic is 
one response to the broader problem of increasing energy 
prices.  For this reason, the feasibility study and technical 
assistance envisioned under the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels 
Partnership is well timed here, but will likely see results 
only in the medium to long-term given near-term challenges to 
implementation.  End Comment. 
BULLEN