Dominican Republic
EITI Status
Yet to be assessed against the 2016 Standard
EITI Member Since
2016
Latest Data From
2015
Website
EITI Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic continues to be one of the best performer country in economic terms. Yearly to the first quarter of 2017, the economic grew 5.2% of GDP following average growth of around 7% in the period 2014-2016.
The extractive sector contributed with 1.5% of total GDP in 2015. However, the sector contributed in the same year with 4% of fiscal revenues. Extractive exports represented one third of total exports in 2015. The main two commodities are gold and ferroniquel. There are two large mining operation in the country, Pueblo Viejo, the country’s largest gold mine and Falcondo. Hydrocarbon exploration is promoted. 19 000 km of 2D geological information is publicly available at the National Hydrocarbons Data Base. Forthcoming bidding rounds will be based on open contracts.
The following figure ilustrates the contribution of the extractive sector to the Dominican Republic economy 2010-2015.
The EITI is part of the government’s transparency framework in its effort to develop the extractive resources.
A number of civil society organizations oppose the expansion of the extractives after the legacy of environmental and social erosion of historical mining exploitation.
The Constitution establishes natural resources are national patrimony and their exploitation should follow the applicable legal dispositions (Chapter IV). The Ministry of Energy and Mines, created in 2013, is the entity responsible to administrate and formulate the national mining and energy policy according to the regulations.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines is subjected to the dispositions of the Free Access to Public Information Law, among other regulation that guarantee operations under the principles of transparency. It is accountable to the Chamber of Accounts and to the Office of the General Comptroller.
License holders are mandated to make fiscal contributions such as:
- Income tax
- Tax on earnings
- Minimum annual tax (IMA)
- Extracted mineral tax
- Royalties
- Other applicable as per the Tax Code
Learn more in the Dominican Republic EITI webportal.
Ongoing reforms
As of March 2018, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has proposed a national mining bill. The text is available here.
Licenses
The General Directorate of Mining (DGM), attached to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, is responsible for managing the mining cadaster, registry and for monitoring mining licenses applications. More information on awarded licenses is available here. Citizens can consult maps of concessions at the DGM's website. Resolutions granting mining titles since 2014 are publically available at the Ministry of Energy and Mines' website.
Mining contracts are explained and disclosed in the Dominican Republic EITI webportal, including the special contracts signed for the Pueblo Viejo and Presa de Cola Las Lagunas projects.
State Participation
The Dominican Republic EITI webportal describes the state participation through the Dominican State owned-enterprises corporation (CORDE for its acronysm in Spanish).
CORDE's mining concession are available here.
The largest CORDE's mining asset is its 9.98% participation in Falconbridge Dominicana S.A. as illustrated in the following picture:
Fiscal regime
The Dominican Republic EITI webportal describes:
- Fiscal regime
- Extractive fiscal revenues
- Fiscal terms in contracts
- Revenue flows as illustrated here:
The Dominican Republic EITI webportal includes:
- National Budget
- Transfers to provinces
In 2015, the national budget was allocated to these main areas:
The Dominican Republic was admitted as an EITI Candidate country on 23rd February 2016 at the 32nd EITI Board Meeting in Lima. The country implements the EITI as per the agreed work plan. In accordance with the EITI Standard, the Dominican Republic is required to publish its first EITI Report by 23 August 2017.
On 18 October 2017, the Dominican Republic published its first EITI Report via the EITI-RD portal including the reconciliation of payments and revenues conducted by Deloitte.
Governance
The Dominican multi-stakeholder group is preceded by the Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Isa Conde. As per the country's Candidature application, the Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) agreed the national EITI principles and approved their own Terms of Reference. The MSG was established by the Decree 248-16 and functions as per the structure below.
EITI Champion: Minister of Energy and Mines
Deputy EITI Champion: Deputy Minister of Hydrocarbons
Government representatives
- Deputy Minister of the Presidency of Follow up and Government Coordination
- Alt. Responsible for Intergovernmental Coordination
- Deputy Minister of Finances for Tax Policy
- Alt. General Director for Policy and Tax Legislation, Minister of Finances
- Deputy Minister of Planning
- Alt. Sector Analyst at the General Direction of Economic and Social Development, Minister of Economy, Planning and Development
Industry Representatives
- Manager for Governmental Relations, Barrick PVDC
- Alt. Consultant Secretary, Compañía Dominicana de Cales, S.A (DOCALSA)
- Senior Specialist of Interinstitutional Relations, Falconbridge Dominicana (FALCONDO)
- Alt. Manager of Environmental Affairs, Compañía de Cemento PANAM (Grupo Estrella)
- Legal Director, Corporación Minera Dominicana (CORMIDOM)
- Alt. Excecutive Director, Asociación Dominicana de Productores de Cementos Portland (ADOCEM)
- President, Cámara Minera-Petrolera de la República Dominicana, Inc. (CAMIPE)
- Alt. Secretary of the Board, Cámara Minera-Petrolera de la República Dominicana, Inc. (CAMIPE)
Civil Society
- Excecutive Director, Participación Ciudadana (Transparency International national chapter)
- Alt. President, Fundación Cuayá
- Researcher ODPP-Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo
- Alt. Secretary, Colegio Dominicano de Economistas (CODECO)
- Coordinator, Organización Articulación Nacional Campesina
- Alt. Spokesperson, Fundación para la Protección del Medio Ambiente Vida y Salud
- General Coordinator, Fundación Guayacán de Energía y Medio Ambiente, Capítulo GEMA AMBIENTAL
- Alt. Treasurer, Sociedad Dominicana de Geología (SODOGEO)
The EITI Dominican Republic, as per Decree 248-16, has a national Technical Secretariat and a Technical Committee that provide support and advise to the MSG.
Timeline
Dominican Republic EITI Report 2015
Published Date:
February, 2018Publisher:
Dominican Republic EITIThis is the first Report published by the Dominican Republic in 2017. It is composed by their webportal and the Reconciliation Report elaborated by the Independent Administrator (Deloitte).
Dominican Republic 2016 Annual Progress Report
Published Date:
June, 2017Dominican Republic 2016 Annual Progress Report
Dominican Republic EITI 2015-2017 work plan
Published Date:
January, 2015Publisher:
Dominican Republic EITIThis is the Dominican Republic EITI 2015-2017 work plan (in accordance with Requirement 1.5).
Dominican Republic beneficial ownership roadmap
Published Date:
December, 2016Publisher:
Dominican Republic EITIAttached below is the Dominican Republic's roadmap on how it intends to disclose the beneficial owners of the companies active in the extractives sector by 2020 (requirement 2.5
More information on beneficial ownership can be found at eiti.org/beneficial-ownership
Dominican Republic open data policy
Published Date:
December, 2016Publisher:
Dominican Republic EITIAttached below is the Dominican Republic's open data policy, published in December 2016.
Every EITI country must agree a clear policy on the access, release and re-use of EITI data (requirement 7.1.b of the EITI Standard
International Secretariat
Santiago J. Dondo
sjdondo
Regional Director
Santiago J. Dondo is an expert in law and public policy related to the extractive industries. He is the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at the EITI.