On February 28, the international consulting firm PwC informed Petroperu its refusal to sign the contract to audit its 2021 financial statements, because the state company demanded a confidentiality clause without a time limit, instead of the two years proposed by the auditor.
This was recorded in an important fact presented by Petroperú before the Superintendency of the Securities Market (SMV).
Petroperú’s Corporate Finance Management was directly in charge of the failed audit with PwC. Despite this, its manager, Jesús Fernando de la Torre Tejada, was appointed yesterday by the board as the temporary replacement for Hugo Chávez in the general management of the oil company.
De la Torre himself, in an interview with RPP at the beginning of March, stated that PwC’s decision was due to other reasons, such as his appointment as head of the Corporate Finance Management and that of Álvaro Torres as general accountant.
Although the appointment of De La Torre is in charge, voices from the sector expressed their concern. “He is the lynchpin of the problem with Price, so his appointment is unheard of. They are kidding the Ministry of Economy”, said a former oil company official.
And it is that this newspaper was able to learn that De la Torre had been recruited by Hugo Chávez as his adviser and then appointed to the Finance Department on February 4.
This official even accompanied Hugo Chávez to the two meetings he held with President Pedro Castillo on March 19, amid the crossfire that broke out between the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the Ministry of Energy and Mines. (Minem), both shareholders of the company with 40% and 60%, respectively.
drooling from snot
For Aurelio Ochoa, former president of Perupetro, there is concern with the assignment to De la Torre, since this does not represent a change of direction for the administration of Petroperú. “With the arrival of Mr. De la Torre we are almost like what happened with MTC and Minjus, where the pieces on the board have simply changed,” said the expert on energy issues.
“They persist in error. They appoint in Petroperú as a replacement for the ill-fated Hugo Chávez a direct relative of him, instead of bringing a first-rate technician to restore the confidence of investors. Babas por snot ”, denounced Congressman Carlos Anderson through his social networks.
The APP bench yesterday expressed concern about the crisis in Petroperú, due to the reduction in its credit risk rating due to “inept management and acts of corruption.” For this reason, they demanded a change of directors for honest and competent officials. “The Minister of Energy and Mines must answer to the country,” APP stressed in a statement.
Depuration. Top management and managers must resign or be removed, according to experts. Photo: diffusion
The crisis continues
After the irrevocable resignation of Hugo Chávez to the general management, profound changes were expected in Petroperú. Comptroller Nelson Shack revealed that this was the commitment of President Pedro Castillo, in the framework of the meeting they held last Saturday, March 19. Even, according to reports, the MEF, in its capacity as a member of the company’s General Shareholders’ Meeting, would request that a meeting be convened in order to propose the change of all senior management and the management line.
What the MEF did not notice is that Petroperú, in its board of directors held yesterday, not only approved the replacement of Chávez, but also accepted the request of Minem, which asked last week to convene an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders to discuss a single point.
This point on the agenda of the meeting convened for next Friday, March 25 or Tuesday, March 29, requests the approval of “absolute support” in favor of Petroperú by the MEF, in the face of the crisis that it has been going through as a result of the delay generated by the Comptroller General of the Republic, regarding the audit of the 2021 financial statements. That is, the crisis returned to the same situation as last week, since the MEF, faced with the same proposal, did not go to the appointment called for last Saturday 19 to consider it “legally inadmissible.”
Another point on the agenda will be the approval of measures to stop and reverse the fall in the international price of the bonds issued by Petroperú.
Likewise, the Petroperú board of directors put on the agenda of this AGM the approval of the actions to ensure the continuity of Petroperú as a going concern and the start-up of the new Talara Refinery in April 2022, “including measures to monetize the debt that the The State maintains against Petroperú for an approximate amount of S/ 2,600 million, due to IGV and FEPC debt.
Board composition
A not minor fact in all this crisis is the composition of the board of directors of Petroperú. There are six members and, with the exception of the director representing the workers, Óscar Vera Gargurevich, the rest are elected by the General Shareholders’ Meeting. Three designates the Minem and two the MEF.
Currently, the representatives of the Minem are the president of the board, Mario Contreras; the vice president, Rafael Zoeger; and Carlos Alberto Palacios. Meanwhile, on the side of the MEF there is only Juan Pari. Hugo Chávez’s place on the board of directors should be filled by Oscar Graham’s MEF.
Carlos Paredes, former president of Petroperú, asserted that the current board of directors, and not only Chávez, is responsible for the chaos in Petroperú. “That board of directors cannot continue to command Petroperú. That directory was set up by the General Shareholders’ Meeting made up of the MEF and Minem, and we already know what the Ministry of Energy and Mines did at the end of last week, asking for a call to a surreal shareholders’ meeting, so how can we trust that that minister and deputy ministers of the Minem can convene a new board of directors?” he questioned.
The crossfire doesn’t stop
It also approved convening a shareholders’ meeting so that the MEF gives its “absolute support” and together face the position of the Comptroller. To the same request, made before, the MEF said no.
In the morning, the company’s Board of Directors approved appointing De la Torre as Chavez’s successor in the General Management of Petroperú.
The data
Came back. It transpired that Chávez would be appointed adviser to the presidency of Petroperú.
Role. According to Comptroller Shack, Petroperú must recover good corporate governance and carry out the different financial tasks of Petroperú correctly.
reactions
Carlos Paredes, former president of Petroperú
“The administration headed by Hugo Chávez entered destroying the fragile institutionality that had been built to promote transparency and fight against corruption in Petroperú.”
Aurelio Ochoa, former president of Perupetro
“With the arrival of Mr. De la Torre we are almost like what has happened with the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of Justice, where the pieces on the board have simply been changed”.
Source: Larepublica
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
