The appointment of the new board of directors Petroperu It opens an opportunity for the company to open up about its situation and allow the State to make a decision about its future. More than Petroperú, the fiscal health of our country is at stake.
Over the weekend, the Universal Shareholders’ Meeting, made up of the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, confirmed the appointment of Luis Alberto Canales Gálvez as president of the oil company, accompanied by Elba Rosa Rojas Álvarez de Mares, Jesús Valentín Ramírez Gutiérrez and Óscar Gerardo Zapata Alcázar. According to specialists, the expectation is that its first decisions will clarify the financial and operational situation of the state company.
They point out that the board’s main challenge will be to make the company’s real information transparent. They consider it essential to distance themselves from previous management and clearly state the status of operations, the liquidity requirements for the coming months and the projected losses for the year. This initial signal would allow establishing a starting point to evaluate restructuring alternatives and regain the trust of public and private actors.
During recent months, Petroperú has required significant fiscal support. Only between June and October of this year, the Public Treasury honored guarantees for S/2,415 million associated with company loans that it could not pay. In October, the monthly disbursement was equivalent to S/379 million. According to the monetary authority, the financial fragility of the oil company continues to be a factor that puts pressure on public accounts and requires timely decisions.
Order in business
Another aspect that must be defined is the strategy to organize the project portfolio and prioritize those that are viable in the short term. The ability to generate cash flow remains limited and requires rigorous planning. In addition, it will be necessary to communicate precisely what measures the company will adopt to prevent new obligations from falling on the public budget.
The appointment of the board has raised questions in the market about its independence and technical expertise. However, specialists consider that clear initial communication, accompanied by verifiable information, will allow evaluating whether the decisions mark a change with respect to previous stages.
“They are all unknown and with a track record that is difficult to give us an idea of what they are going to do. The president clearly has a political profile. Furthermore, he is from Talar, so his attachment to rescuing Petroperú is probable,” said an executive in the sector who preferred anonymity.
Therefore, the degree of transparency they adopt in the coming weeks will be decisive in projecting the direction of Petroperú in a complex environment with increasing fiscal pressures.
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