Former Minister of Productive Development Matías Kulfas argued before the court that there was no evidence of any crime in the call for tenders for the construction of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline in the Vaca Muerta field and that his statements were part of “discrepancies and political discussions.”
“In no case do I know that there have been acts of corruption related to the tender for the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline,” said the former minister when giving a testimonial statement, under oath to tell the truth, before federal judge Daniel Rafecas and the prosecutor in the case Carlos Stornelli.
“If I had had any element that indicated possible acts of corruption, I would have reported them in court.“, assured the former national official in the testimonial statement that took place this morning and lasted for two hours in Rafecas’ office, on the third floor of Comodoro Py 2002.
In addition, Kulfas admitted that he was the one who wrote the paragraphs of an “off the record” report that was later distributed by his press officer, but he assured that he did not do it with the intention of making it massive, according to the sources.
“My statements referred to issues of public policy and industrial policy and had to do with a set of statements made by the Vice President of the Nation at the event for the 100 years of YPF in Tecnópolis, which I considered offensive and unjustified towards our management of the Ministry of Productive Development,” he asserted, according to the statement to which Télam agreed.
Regarding his questions in that off to the award of the part of the work linked to the pipes to the Techint company, he now said before the judge and the prosecutor that in that text there were “errors” as a result of the “rush” to go out to answer.
“The award to Techint is justified in the rush to have the work completed as soon as possible” with a view to “self-sufficiency of gas and its export,” he reiterated.
And he clarified that when he referred to the fact that national companies could take over, he wanted to express that this was possible “in the future” based on a visit he had made to a laminate factory in which he had been told that they would be in a position to supply pipes , but “in the not near future”.
“Regarding the Techint firm, I have no elements to talk about addressing”said the former official, and regarding the firm Laminados Industriales, he added: “I made reference to future possibilities, which do not coincide with the haste to start work on the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline, in any case, what I sought was to exemplify the challenges of industrial policy linked to energy policy”.
Prosecutor Stornelli wanted to know if he had contacts with President Alberto Fernández, and the former official told him that he did not speak to him again after the public statements in which the president expressed his displeasure in relation to his statements.
Stornelli read the President’s statements in the audience before asking questions and also wanted to know what relationship Kulfas had with the Vice President. In this regard, the now former official maintained that he did not have “much” relationship and that he never spoke with her on this subject.
Judicial sources evaluated that with his statements under oath of truth, the commission of the crime of failure to report was practically ruled out, since Kulfas affirmed that he had not known of any crime with the tender.
Before concluding the testimonial, Kulfas took the floor to leave a definition and pointed out: “The construction of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline is a very important work for the development of the country, it will allow achieving self-sufficiency of gas, and from that , start an export stage. It is a work that will benefit Argentina, beyond those who make up the government and the different political forces. I hope that this situation does not affect the completion times of this work.”
The former official entered the courthouse shortly before 10 without making statements to the press, accompanied by a lawyer and other advisers, but when he made a statement he did so alone in the office, before Rafecas and Stornelli.
Kulfas left two hours later through a side door of the courthouse and without answering questions from journalists.
the summons
The former minister was summoned to testify as a witness under oath of truth in the case as a result of an ‘off the record’ based on his statements on Friday to radio AM 750 and broadcast from the Ministry that he chaired until last week linked to an alleged address of that tender that is currently being processed.
Precisely the court will request the delivery of the specifications linked to the tender for the valves for the gas pipeline, which will also be analyzed together with the supply of pipes and civil works.
For next Monday the 13th, at 12 noon, Rafecas also summoned as a witness the former Enarsa official Antonio Pronsato, who resigned from his position as head of the Execution Unit of the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline in Enarsa, on Monday, May 30.
Based on this testimony, the magistrate plans to learn about the technical aspects of the call for bids, which was largely prepared by this witness, an engineer specialized in the matter.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday of next week, a hearing will be held with specialists from four companies that extract gas in Vaca Muerta, Pluspetrol, YPF, Tecpetrol and Total Austral so that they can explain to the Rafecas court the “technical requirements” necessary for the construction of the pipeline.
This hearing will be testimonial and oral, the experts will take an oath of truth and will take place in one of the hearing rooms of the Retirement courts.
At the end, the court plans to upload the recording to “YouTube,” the sources said.
The objective is that experts appointed by the companies attend the court to answer questions about the “technical requirements required for the construction of the gas pipeline”
Rafecas called a second hearing for Wednesday the 15th, at 10 a.m., to which four experts appointed by the companies TGN and TGS (Transportadora Gas del Norte y del Sur), Enargas and the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires were summoned.
The content of the ‘off’ report that was released last Friday from the Ministry of Productive Development questioning the bidding process -which is still open-, was denied by the company through a statement.
On Saturday, in its response, the state-owned company Energía Argentina (Ieasa) criticized the ‘off’ of Productive Development, considering it “a note lacking in technical knowledge” and denied that “a bidding document tailored to Techint” had been put together. , for requiring a sheet with 33 mm thickness and not 31 mm.
