The Executive Power is currently evaluating allowing supergas companies to recharge cylinders from any company. A 2007 decree establishes that companies can only market those with their own label, although they can receive containers of any color.
The conflict generated in the Riogas company began to impact the market and in the sector they warn that supply problems may be generated in the coming daysas they said from Megal to The Observer.
As Riogas is in conflict, the other companies have no margin to exchange blue containers of that company but they are not authorized to fill them either. Diego Durand, vice president of Ancap, the company that owns Ducsa, told The Observer that the Executive Branch is evaluating the possibility of enabling any company to fill containers of any color, although there is still no definition.
If a solution is not reached in the coming days in the conflict, from Megal they state that it is necessary that the government must implement a decree that allows companies to use the company’s bottles in conflict to prevent a shortage in the population for a period of two weeks. This problem also occurs at times when the first cold weather arrives.
The “clearing” and unemployment
Twitter. Daniel Olesker
The Riogas workers union blocks the La Tablada plant
Riogas has blue bottles, golden Acodike, green Megal and white Ducsa. Users are free to buy the bottle they want and return it at any distribution point regardless of the company. When containers from another company accumulate, the “clearing” of bottles is carried out: one company leaves them to the other, and takes its own.
The problem is that for this color system to work, everything must be “in balance”indicated Megal sources, because if a company dfails to produce or operate the others can accumulate cylinders of that competitor without being able to use themand neither they can go back to having their own retained jugs at the distribution points of that organization.
The Riogas conflict began last week due to the dismissal of a workeraccording to the company bad behaviorand the penalty to twelve workers while participating in fighting measures. The workers’ union blocked access to the La Tablada de Ancap plant this Sunday at dawnin Verdisol, and held a picket at the Supergás plant on Wednesday.
This leads to Riogas not distributing bottles, nor carrying out “clearing” with other companies. The companies began to accumulate bottles of Riogas without being able to use themand they cannot access the bottles that are left in that company.
To this is added that the Riogas plant does not workwhich harms ducsawhich has a production exclusivity contract at the Riogas and Acodike plants, both owned by Ancap. “Riogas has no gas, and the others have nothing” to distribute itMegal’s sources explained.
Durand explained that this situation affects the packaging and generates delays in the distribution of bottlesand hope that the situation “Don’t have a more difficult scenario than the one you are going through.”
“There are people with greater vulnerability, who find it more difficult to access energy for heating, who end up being affected by this type of conflict”lamented the vice president of Ancap, and criticized that the Riogas workers’ union is “selfish” in this context, in which it puts a “stick in the wheel” to the gas distributors.
Other colors
From Megal they understand that if the situation continues for two or three days, the Executive Power must allow, through the Regulatory Unit for Energy and Water Services, which the other distributors supply the population with Riogas bottles for at least two weeksor until the conflict is resolved.
This alternative was already used by the government in 2014 and 2016 by different conflicts, and has the purpose of prevent shortages of the population.
Until now, companies have had no problems supplying their market, but they understand that the situation could worsen if temperatures continue to drop like this week, leading demand to continue to rise.
Durand stated that the “regulatory framework” of the colors “is respected and complied with”but affirmed that the situation is evaluated day by day and that the option of Executive permission is on Ancap’s table as a possible solution.
