According to a report in Hoy newspaper’s economic section, the Spanish private company Union Fenosa is still waiting for the government to pay the US$15-million initial payment for the re-acquisition of power distribution companies EdeSur and EdeNorte, as was agreed in October. The government had presented Union Fenosa with a post-dated check, but this is reported to have bounced. The agreement, signed between the Dominican government and the Spanish company, stated that an initial payment of US$15 million would be made immediately and the remainder of the total agreed price of US$362.5 million would be paid over the next 12 years. Meanwhile, the power sector authorities are saying they can guarantee power supplies over the holidays, but cannot say what the situation will be once the vacation is over. The prolonged power-cuts, which have increased in the last two weeks, are once more being attributed to the government’s non-payment of debts owed to the private electricity generation companies.