On September 13, 2024, President Dina Boluarte and then ministers Gustavo Adrianzén, José Arista and Romulo Much signed the emergency decree 013-2024, by means of which the period of the guarantee of the Peruvian State was extended to the credit operation between Banco de la Nación and Petroperú for US $ 1,000 million.
The deadline extended from 12 months to four years, allowing Petroperú to access and make credit until December 31, 2028.
The measure was questioned not only for the financing of a company whose debt with the State has been capitalized to avoid a default, but also for the misuse of the emergency decree. According to Constitutionalists, this norm violated the Constitution by not complying with the criteria of exceptionality that justify these types of provisions.
Given this, the Arequipa Bar Association filed a claim for unconstitutionality against the decree, which was admitted to the Constitutional Court today. Admission constitutes a relevant stage within the process.
Walter Gutiérrez, lawyer of the case on behalf of the Arequipa Bar Association, said that the decree violates constitutional principles and norms, not to prove the exceptionality and unpredictability required by the jurisprudence of the Court itself. He stressed that Petroperú’s difficult economic and financial situation cannot be considered exceptional or unpredictable, since its causes have been known for several years.
The lawsuit also emphasizes that the repeated use of emergency decrees to rescue Petroperú – at least four since 2020 – has denatured this constitutional mechanism and committed important public resources that, in accordance with article 44 of the Constitution, should be used as essential services such as health, education and citizen security.
Amid the critical situation of the company, which maintains operational losses and a debt greater than the S/ 8,000 million, it is considered necessary that the Constitutional Court resolve the case quickly. A timely pronouncement would provide legal certainty, would avoid decisions that further compromise public finances and reduce the risk of new state bailouts.
In accordance with the Constitutional Procedural Code, the following phase will be the location to the Attorney General’s Office to answer the claim within the corresponding legal period. Subsequently, the Court will set a date for the view of the case, in which both parties will present their allegations in public hearing.
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