The Minister of Economy and Finance avoided commenting on the operation, which could imply a monopolistic situation.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Azucena Arbeleche, assured that the purchase of the Brazilian company Minerva Foods from three floors to his rival, Marfrig, “It has to go through the Defense of Competition”, amid criticism from various sectors due to the possibility of a monopolistic situation.
When asked at a press conference after speaking at the Senate by Accountability, Arbeleche He remarked that “the transaction has to go through the Defense of Competition”, thus avoiding pointing out the questions, including some that warned that 1 in 2 steers were going to be slaughtered by Minerva.
Before a cross-examination, the minister insisted on her position: “I am not going to pronounce myself until that analysis is done and made publicly known.” Thus, she avoided entering into a controversy with the Brazilian firm, which would concentrate 45% of the market for Uruguayan work.
Minerva It has four plants, including the one recently acquired from BPU, after a similar process where the Defense of Competition gave the go-ahead. If you count these three, which imply the absorption of 16 refrigerators, you would be left in a situation that many leaders classified as “monopolistic.”
Criticism of the Rural Federation
To the questions that came from leaders of the Multicolor Coalition and from sectors of the field, recently added that of the President of the Rural Federation, Jorge Andrés Rodríguez, who told Radio Rural that the decision “generated surprise” and opined: “The State will have to play its role and Minerva also, explaining what their purchasing policy will be like”.
In any case, he tried to maintain calm by pointing out that “the State will have to give its vision of this issue and guarantee that there is no abusive exercise of the power of demand that determines collusion in the purchase of property.”
In this sense, he asked himself: “How is the finance policy going to be armed in Uruguay? Is it going to continue as it is today? And he continued: “When selling, who is going to set the price? Are all the plants going to put it? Minerva Or is each plant going to do its business?
Source: Ambito
