This is how the evaluation of the managers of public companies in Ecuador goes

Carlos Guayaquil was dismissed from his position as manager of the Public Companies Coordinating Company (EMCO), while Gonzalo Uquillas and Teddy Mackliff were ratified in their positions as managers of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec) and the Public Water Company, respectively. Meanwhile, on the night of this Friday, January 27, the Directory of the National Electricity Corporation (CNEL) will be held and a decision will be made on the permanence or not of its manager, Antonio Clemente Icaza.

This was announced by Joaquín Ponce, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EMCO, regarding the general evaluation that has begun in the 13 public companies in the country, as part of the corruption risks that would exist within them and after having requested the availability of their charges on January 17.

Ponce explained that these days decisions will continue to be made about the other managers. Among them, he commented that the manager of Flopec, Oswaldo Rosero, and that of Petroecuador, Hugo Aguiar, are also being evaluated.

In the case of manager Rosero, a first approach was made for the approval of the company’s budget, but some observations were made about the vision he has of the company. He explained that Flopec manages 50 vessels, of which 13 are owned and the rest are leased. In this case, he said that the numbers on how much it costs Ecuadorians to transport hydrocarbons were not clear. Thus, he has been asked to submit three explanatory reports. With these inputs a decision will be made.

Meanwhile, Hugo Aguiar also presented his plan for the company. According to Ponce’s criteria, this report was very grounded, although clarifying reports have also been requested. In any case, he anticipated that the Minister of Energy would be looking for a shortlist, although a decision has not yet been made.

Meanwhile, Ponce, who has been in office since December 18, said that when he received his office, his predecessor, Hernán Luque, who is now involved in a corruption scandal, did not submit any management report. Ponce said that he personally has asked the Comptroller’s Office to examine all managers and assured that the agency would have already started said process, at the same time he requested, as has already been known, the availability of the position of all managers.

According to Ponce, EMCO is a company that seeks to support management, evaluates, supervises and gives guidelines to each of them. In Ecuador there are 13 public companies. Twelve of them make sales of $18,000 million, and have expenses of $14,000 million. 50% of these amounts correspond to Petroecuador and the remaining 50% to the other 11 companies. Company 13 is EMCO, which is the coordinator.

For its part, the State Comptroller General reported through a statement that since June 2021 it has approved 117 general audit reports and has sent the Prosecutor’s Office 23 reports with indications of criminal responsibility. In addition, $251 million in liabilities were predetermined in five strategic public companies.

The control body permanently examines the management of public companies and their subsidiaries that depend on the Executive Branch, in strategic and non-strategic sectors; as well as in the public companies of the cantonal and provincial autonomous governments. The audits are carried out in the active entities, in liquidation and the activities carried out by the closed companies, to verify compliance with the regulations applicable to each case.

During the administration of the current State Comptroller, Carlos Riofrío González, since June 2021, the Comptroller’s Office issued work orders to carry out control actions in Petroecuador, in Celec, in CNEL, in Flopec and its subsidiaries. (YO)