Petrolera Raízen defends itself against accusations by Argentine Customs regarding imports

The oil company Raízenwith presence in Brazil and Argentinaexplained that their imports were “carried out within the legal framework”, in response to the alleged overbilling that the Argentine customs He said he had detected it, according to what spokesmen for the multinational said this Saturday.

“Raízen Argentina is working together with the control authorities to quickly clarify the situation and reaffirms that all its commercial activities are carried out not only in strict compliance with the law, but also under the high standards of ethics and transparency that characterized its operations in the country throughout throughout his vast career”, affirmed the oil company in a statement.

According to the General Directorate of Customs of Argentina, rooten -which is a ‘joint venture’ between Royal Dutch Shell and the Cosan Group and is the second company in fuel sales in Argentina- imported industrial inputs that declared with an average value of 16 times higher than the real one.

The Argentine customs focused on four entries of merchandise originating in the United Kingdom, Spain and France, which, however, were re-invoiced from Italy, within the framework of controls on the import regime called Turnkey Plant.

The Argentine customs presumes that the objective of the undue maneuver was to obtain dollars from the Argentine Central Bank at the official price, to seek to obtain, irregularly, a financial benefit from the foreign trade operation, as a result of the strong restrictions applied by the Government to access to the official exchange market.

The Argentine customs could apply fines of more than 800 million pesos (3 million dollars, at the official exchange rate).

In response to these alleged breaches, Raízen Argentina explained that as part of the investment plan of 715 million dollars announced in 2020, the company signed a contract with the firm Wood Amec Foster Wheeler Italiana (Wood) for the modular acquisition of different production units (plants).

Given the duration, scale and complexity of this project, the contract entered into with Wood includes, in addition to the acquisition of materials, the design, the manufacture of modules and equipment abroad and the transport of materials between countries of origin and other complementary services. , clarified rooten.

rooten recalled that “the amount of this contract for its consequent access to foreign currency was approved in a timely manner, and after an exhaustive control process”, by the Secretariat of Industry and Productive Development of the Ministry of Economy.

The oil company clarified that the purchased units enter the country under the Staggered Shipment Regime and that at each stage of these staggered receptions the percentage of services and materials varies, although always respecting the total value of the contract and the staggered import authorized by customs.

rooten is an integrated energy company, which produces and markets ethanol, sugar, fuels and bioenergy, which has been present in Brazil since 2011 and in Argentina since 2018, where it is a licensee of the Shell brand and has more than 700 service stations, a refinery and a lubricant plant.

(With information from EFE)