President Hugo Chavez will visit the DR on Saturday to sign a new financing agreement regarding Venezuelan oil sales to the DR. Originally, it had been announced that President Fernandez would make a stopover in Caracas on his way back from the Group of Rio Summit in Brazil to formalize the new agreement. The Venezuelan president and Fernandez will be together in Rio de Janeiro for the summit that will take place from 4-5 November. The latest plan, however, is for the two heads of state to travel together on Saturday to the Dominican Republic.
As per the agreement, Venezuela will finance 25% of all oil exported to the DR. The agreement enables the DR to defer payment of around US$150 million per year for 15 years and use this money for infrastructure improvements. The credit terms have not been announced. The funding would be used for infrastructure projects under the Corporacion Estatal de Empresas Electricas (CDEEE), as funding is only available to entities fully-owned by the government.
The DR sources the majority of its fuel from Venezuela.