Petroperu is in crisis and with a board of directors that has already resigned. In this regard, the manager of Economic Studies of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR), Adrián Armas, said that it is necessary for the state-owned company to have “adequate management” to get out of this problem that has been dragging on for many years.
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“The situation, as we all know, is delicate. The important part for the company is that it can increase its production in accordance with the potential it has with the new Talara Refinery. A fundamental part is to have adequate management, certainly to improve because we see that in recent years this management has deteriorated,” he said.
He also noted that it is important for the oil company to have working capital so that it can operate “and move forward.”
Last Wednesday, the Executive approved a new bailout for the state-owned company in a Council of Ministers meeting. This aid is a measure of financial viability, although it was not reported how much would be injected into the company, which has a debt of approximately US$8.5 billion and is now out of cash.
In a brief statement to this newspaper last Thursday, the head of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho, said that the norm would be published that same day, however, as of the closing of this edition it had not yet been promulgated.
NO PRIVATIZATIONS
On the other hand, Pedro Gamio, a member of the resigning board of the oil company, said that this group never had the intention of privatizing the company, as some voices opposed to the restructuring have pointed out.
“The only objective was to make Petroperú a competitive, transparent, internationally renowned company that, throughout its history, only generated 20% of losses for the country. 80% of that time was profit,” he said during his presentation at Expomina 2024.
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However, he stressed the need for a restructuring that would allow for accounts to be in the black by the end of 2028.
“If we do not do this work, looking for first-rate strategic partners, and if labor lawyers tell us that it is impossible to reduce staff who do not benefit from an incentive program, no matter how generous it may be, then we must ask Congress for the authority to transfer people who, according to a rigorous technical evaluation, are considered surplus to a public entity so that they can then be relocated to other positions,” he added.
In this regard, he pointed out that the public company cannot be required to bear such a burden, and even less to take charge of the errors of other institutions. “Peru cannot continue to abuse the fact that God is Peruvian,” he added.
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