Rubis Sacks Employees; Skerrit to Report Company to French Government

Barbara 19th September, 2022

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PM Roosevelt Skerrit has threatened to report Rubis fuel distribution company to the French government. Skerrit said he will do this in response to Rubis’ suspension of fuel sales to Dominicans and for terminating the employment of several employees. He said the gas station is undermining the national security of Dominica by its recent actions.

I don’t think the government should take that action by Rubis lightly.“Rubis is a French-owned company and I intend to take this up with the French government. We intend to write to the French authority. What if Rubis was the only gas station in Dominica or the only supplier of petroleum products in Dominica?
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica

Rubis West Indies Ltd has been operating in Dominica since 2011. The fuel company said the mandated fuel prices imposed by the DLP administration is unfavourable and that it has been struggling to make profits since its operations started in the country. The management contended that the prices it is forced to sell fuel are below the importation costs of bringing the commodity into the country. It emphasized that it has been registering rising losses for the past six years.

Following the suspension of fuel sales to Dominicans on September 14, the company issued letters to its employees on September 15 indicating that they would be laid off by September 30 if the government does not meet its demand to review fuel prices for sustained profitability. Some employees of Rubis embarked on protest on September 16 at the company’s office in Canefield, demanding the Skerrit-led government to come to their aids to prevent their retrenchment.

Skerrit contended that the current fuel prices operated by the government in Dominica are reflective of the high cost of the commodity in the international market – worsened by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said the government is subsidizing the cost of fuel in the country by 85c per gallon and that he already promised the management of Rubis of price adjustment to favour their business if oil prices drop in the global market.

The treasury of the country is paying you 85 cents per gallon of gasoline sold to the Dominican public, and therefore there is no dispute whatsoever. So it’s not because you made a request, the request must be approved; and if it’s not approved at the time you wanted it to be approved, you declare that there is an issue. We said when the price of petroleum goes down in the international market at a reasonable rate; we will look at extending profit margin to cushion the impact on yourself and consumers…
Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica