After the ‘bribery’ scandal for the purchase of urea, which led to the decline of that acquisition, the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri), Andrés Alencastre, said Thursday that the batch of fertilizer is expected to arrive next week. second week of August to the Agro Rural warehouses to guarantee the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign.
“All technical and regulatory transparent efforts are being made so that by the second week of August we are delivering (urea) to each of Agro Rural’s warehouses with transparency, quality and timeliness. That is what we are going to do with the amount of tons that can be bought with the new mechanisms.”, said the official at the XVIII Decentralized Council of Ministers in Huaraz, Áncash.
The minister also pointed out that in the Ancash region an allocation of 820 tons of guano from the island was allocated for the fertilization of crops, but so far the delivery of 520 tons has been fulfilled.
The remaining 320 tons will be finalized soon, after the extraction of this input, which must have prior authorization from Sernanp.
Purchase of the second call was canceled
It should be noted that on June 22, Minister Andrés Alencastre announced the cancellation of the second international purchase of 73,529 tons of urea after irregularities detected by the Comptroller in the process, to which was added the broadcast of an audio that revealed the payment of an alleged bribe.
The evaluation committee of Rural Agriculture granted the good pro to the offer presented by the Brazilian company MF Fertilizadores; however, the Comptroller’s Office warned that delivery in 35 days was not guaranteed.
In addition, the agency maintained that in the contract that was signed between the State and the provider, the first delivery is conditional upon receipt of the letter of credit.
In the audio that was broadcast in Willax, Agro Rural ruled out a company that offered the fertilizer at a lower price, within the bidding process. The reason would have been that this company, of American origin, presented a document in English, without translation into Spanish.
The Global Investments Group (GIG) company offered US$650 per ton of urea. On the other hand, the company chosen by the evaluation committee, MF Fertilizers, requested US$760 for each ton. This figure is US$ 110 more expensive than the one offered by the competition.
According to one of the recordings, the company would have delivered more than US$ 55 million to obtain the tender. Of this amount, 15% (US$ 8.25 million) was part of the bribe for officials, which made it easier for MF Fertilizers to be chosen as a supplier on June 11.
