Barrick Pueblo Viejo issued a statement on Wednesday evening, 27 February expressing its willingness to sit down for talks with the Dominican government on aspects of the contract passed by the National Congress. In the statement, the company expresses its belief that judicial security is fundamental for achieving the goal of generating benefits for the company, state and populations near the mining area and the Dominican economy as a whole. It says that in the same speech President Danilo Medina mentioned that mining grew by 42% last year. Manuel Rocha, president of Barrick Pueblo Viejo, confirmed that there had been friendly exchanges with the government to analyze concerns about the contract, and mentioned the limitations the company has due to commitments toward the financial institutions that have backed the project.