The private sector raised its voice in protest against President Dina Boluarte’s intention to remove the current board of directors of Petroperú and rehire Pedro Chira and Óscar Vera, who were removed from the state-owned company by their own government due to an obvious conflict of interest, questions about transparency and poor results.
LOOK: Petroperú’s board of directors in danger
Although at the time of going to press these changes are only rumored, the sources of this information come from within the Executive branch itself.
Confiep expressed its disagreement with the possible dismissal of the current directors of the oil company and the return to control of the company by Chira and Vera. The institution highlighted that the performance of the latter “has been deficient” and they have even been questioned on issues of suitability and transparency.
“If this provision were to be implemented, it would go against the message of July 28, in which the president emphasized the importance of having the best professionals in the country’s key institutions,” said Confiep.
The Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL) stressed that removing the current board of directors means stopping the process of Petroperú’s disclosure, “putting the country’s public finances at serious risk,” since the company’s huge losses will continue to be covered by the taxes of all Peruvians.
“We ask the President of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, and the Ministers of Economy and Finance, José Arista, and of Energy and Mines, Rómulo Mucho, to support the current board of directors of Petroperú so that it can carry out a thorough restructuring of the company,” the CCL stated.
Recognition
The private sector’s support for the current board of Petroperú is due, first of all, to the recognition of the work carried out by professionals with outstanding careers, who have sought a solution to the company’s crisis. The board has made the company’s situation transparent and has presented Boluarte’s government with three options to urgently address this problem.
“It would be a huge mistake. The current board has done what it had to do: make the critical situation of Petroperú transparent, seek efficiency and push for private sector participation (in administration first and in shareholding later). What message would be sent by its untimely replacement? That the axe falls on the brave professional who dares to cause discomfort,” said the director of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR), Diego Macera.
Secondly, the private sector’s statement seeks to stop the hiring of two figures who have harmed the company, namely Pedro Chira, former president of Petroperú, and Óscar Vera, former Minister of Energy and Mines and union member on leave from the oil company.
During his tenure as president of Petroperú, which began in April 2023, Chira not only refused to make transparent the study by the consulting firm Arthur D. Little, which proposed a solution for the state oil company with a timeline, but he set it aside.
In the first three months of 2023, a quarter before Chira took over the company, Petroperú recorded losses of US$158 million. Then, during his administration, in the second quarter of the same year, the state-owned company lost US$222 million, in the third quarter another US$150 million and in the last quarter US$534 million.
Mucho is going on tour
On the other hand, the director of Petroperú, Pedro Gamio, declared to Canal N that keeping the state-owned company in “intensive care” will harm all Peruvians and that the decision on the future of the company depends on the supreme government and the general meeting of shareholders, in which the MEF and the Minem participate.
However, in the midst of this crisis, the head of Minem, Rómulo Mucho, has decided to travel to New York at the invitation of a private bus. According to Supreme Resolution No. 185-2024-PCM, he will be absent from tomorrow until Friday, if he has not left before.
Data:
Every time Petroperú buys oil for refining, it cannot look for the most economical option, because its capacity as a credit subject is restricted to the maximum.
Petroperú’s current financing options are minimal and much more expensive, and that higher bill affects everyone, said Pedro Gamio, a director at the oil company.
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