The elected president of Colombia, Gustav Petro, who will take office on August 7, warned Ecopetrol that he will continue with his plan to make a energy transition towards clean energies in the country, a project that has caused concern in the economic sphere.
“Don’t hold us. The popular vote is mandatory. I want to produce a consensus, but not bend the popular vote that wants clean energy“, Petro said in a message on his Twitter account in response to a press article that talks about how the corporate governance of Ecopetrol, the largest company in the country, to protect shareholders.
According to the article quoted by Petro in his tweet, the Ecopetrol shareholders meeting recently approved a change to increase the period of its board of directors, in which there are government representatives, from two to four years, so that the management of the company is independent of the political cycles of the country.
In this regard, Petro pointed out that “the public owner freely chooses its members in the companies that represent it. It is the representation of the people“.
During the last presidential campaign, Petro stressed that he wants to pass “From an extractivist economy to a productive economy“, as well as stopping new oil exploration in the country as part of the transition towards clean energy.
The fear that measures in this sense affect Ecopetrol provoked sharp falls in oil company shares in the days after Petro’s election, although they subsequently began to recover.
Gustavo Petro, during his victory speech in the elections.
In his victory speech, the president-elect proposedor also that the countries of Latin America unite to talk with United States and lay the foundations for a “energy transitionin the face of the ravages caused by climate change.
“I propose to the Government of the United States and all the governments of the Americas that we sit down for a dialogue to establish the steps of the energy transition, the steps of the construction of a decarbonized economy, the steps of the construction of an economy of life in all of America“He said on that occasion.
The election of Petro has coincided with intense volatility in world markets due to fears of a recession in the United States that will spread throughout the planet, which mainly affects foreign exchange operations in Colombia, where the price of the dollar has been trading for several days. at record levels and the psychological barrier of 5,000 pesos It doesn’t seem so far anymore.
EFE
