On Tuesday, December 26, the current president of EMCO, Jorge Benavides, complied with the request of the President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, to report on the profitability of shutting down that public company, created in 2015, which served to coordinate other public companies. For Benavides, this extinction process would require legal reform, but he clarifies that his report is not binding. EMCO ends its existence with a trajectory stained by a scandal of corruption and influence peddling caused by the management of the previous president, Hernán Luque Lecar. On this topic, Benavides says that there is no perfect standard of control, however, if a public official does not want to work for the common good, he will always find loopholes to act inappropriately.

Is a legal reform or decree needed to shut down EMCO?

Public companies are established and terminated by executive decree, that is the power of the President of the Republic, but the procedure is determined by the Organic Law on Public Companies. This law states that EMCO as an entity is part of the boards of directors of other public companies and that the president of EMCO chairs the boards of directors of other companies. What we legally claim is that the reform must first go to the Organic Law on Public Companies, more precisely to Article 7, precisely on the role of EMCO, so that an executive decision on the closure of the company can then be made. Then the procedure for firing the human talent, the appropriate remuneration and to which entity the powers of EMCO are transferred must be determined and the deadlines set.

Is President Noboa’s executive order valid?

Yes, it does, because the executive order directs the president of EMCO to make studies to see what is the proper procedure to shut down the company. We have prepared it and we see two phases: the reform of the law and then the executive decree for the shutdown.

Should the Law be adopted in the Assembly and how long could the complete shutdown process take?

Legislative initiative is the prerogative of the president. You can send an urgent economic project. The time depends on when the bill for amendments to the articles is submitted. This reform can be included in one of the urgent economic projects. It is important to note that this report is not binding. We suggest at our own discretion what the route would be based on existing regulations. But the President of the Republic has the last word.

You said before that the existence of this company was necessary, what would be the problem if it didn’t exist?

The law talks about the need for management, regulation, control and management. This allocation of EMCO, which needs to be coordinated, must be transferred to another person. The Business Law says that there are causes for the disappearance of a company, and this can be because it is not in line with national goals, economic reasons or because it has ceased to fulfill a goal or function. In this case, I believe that he has not lost his goal, because coordination by law still exists. In that case, the executive authority must define who is responsible for that coordination.

What would be the point of eliminating EMCO if another one is going to be created with the same function?

That is the authority of the Presidency. There may be economic reasons, due to optimization.

How big is the company, how many employees, what is your budget?

It is a small company, with an annual budget of $2,445,467.23 and an executed budget of $1,904,125.64 as of October. The company has assets of $204,152.35 and liabilities of $157,846.60. There are 58 public servants. EMCO is responsible for the coordination of twelve public companies, including strategic and non-strategic assets (CNEL, Celec, Petroecuador, Enami, CNT, Flopec, Empresa Pública del Agua, Astinave, Santa Bárbara, Servicios Postales Creamos Infraestructura y Comunica EP). He is also in charge of the liquidation of six others.

Do you think it played a good role, has the management of public companies improved?

That’s the million dollar question. What does EMCO produce? Prepares documents and reports, which are then validated and approved by other ministries. EMCO’s work is particularly technical. The good thing about the existence of EMCO is that the parameters and standardization of the process are established. These coordination functions may pass to Senplades or another ministry. The company contributes to good corporate governance.

This is an ideal scenario, but EMCO was actually involved in influence peddling, corruption, linked to Mr. Luque Lecar. This is where EMCO tarnished its name…

The President’s decision is to shut down EMCO, there is no going back. I believe that there are no perfect legal designs, regulatory controls and institutions. The problem is that public officials take their role seriously. If a person does not act with the intention of contributing to the common good, he will look for loopholes in the law to act inappropriately, no matter how many regulations there are, no matter how many precautions and institutional security there are. I worked for six months, in six months more than 50 directories were made for budget approvals, business plans, guidelines, setting up warnings.

But can anything be done to improve it?

Subsequent reforms could be implemented in the Organic Law of Public Companies, requirements for the chairman of the board or additional requirements for general directors could be established. The law is currently very general. The experience could be listed in the LOEP regulations.

The prosecutor’s office worked here, was it possible to see how the topic of corruption worked?

At this moment, what is known is that a hearing has been held to draw up indictments for the persons involved in this case and we are fully cooperating with the information requested by the Prosecutor’s Office. I asked the Oversight Office for a special review of former President Luque’s administration. We still haven’t received an answer. I understand it will start next year. It must be understood that there was a process of choosing the government. This year was special, there were cross death, elections, among others.

The Petroecuador insurance issue was a controversial issue. The video shows an EMCO employee allegedly negotiating the possibility of extending the contract with an insurer that has already… What happened to that employee?

He was not an official of the entity when that video was published. It seems that this is a person who worked five or six years ago. The issue of insurance is the responsibility of the manager, not the presidency of the board of directors.

What is happening now with the current manager of Petroecuador, has he resigned? Will your resignation be accepted?

Let us remind you that the head of the company was asked to resign. Thus, the resignation of manager Reinaldo Armijos was announced a few weeks ago and his replacement manager (Xavier Miranda Patiño) was appointed, but he resigned after two weeks for health reasons. This resignation is not valid until it is accepted by the board of directors. There is no directory date because profiles are being discussed. Celec’s manager Gonzalo Uquillas also left, and Paúl Urgilés was appointed as his deputy. EMCO director Agustín Páez Intriago has resigned, and Vanessa Nicola is acting as his deputy.

Why did they find out about Armijoš’s resignation and appoint a replacement without waiting for a shortlist? Did it have anything to do with the termination of the contract with Seguros La Unión?

I do not know that

Meanwhile, the new manager just declares the friendship contest void and resigns…

The principle of legality. As the board of directors, we were familiar with the pre-contractual procedure on the Amistad field, but the issue of its successful completion is the responsibility of the general director.

What questions does EMCO leave pending?

This time we work until the last day. It is urgent that the expanded budgets be approved. These days we are with the boards of directors to get to know these business and strategic plans. The liquidation of the Public Media and Railway Company is 90 percent advanced. There are complications that no longer depend on EMCO but on the ministries that do not allow the public deed of liquidations to crystallize.