The directory of the National Administration of Fuel, Alcohol and Portland (Ancap) will open this noon the envelopes of the tender called to find a private strategic partner in the portland business, after the deadline to submit offers expires this afternoon. The two biggest unknowns are, on the one hand, whether there will really be companies interested in associating with the state oil company in the cement business in Uruguay; and what the union’s response will be to the events of the day.
Finally, today it will be known if there were offers from companies to become the private partner of Ancap in Portland, and which companies will the oil company have to choose from to open a sector that has been in deficit for 20 years—in case there is more than one interested party.
According to the director of Ancap, Richard Charamelo, there was significant number of interested parties”. However, he warned that the process of finding a partner “is not easy in this international situation and with all the requirements that Ancap posed in the specifications, aiming to maintain personnel and control of the deposits,” as he explained in dialogue with Subrayado.
Likewise, the leader recalled that the private investor that associates with the state oil company must also seek foreign sales “because the internal market does not provide more”, the basic reason that led the state company to look for a private partner to boost the historically loss-making business for the public company.
After opening envelopes, if there are offers, a team will analyze them and submit a report to the board of directors, which will then, in conversations with the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM)you will make a decision.
Ancap will stay with between 10% and 30% of the business which it now owns in its entirety, and the private one with a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 90% of the share capital of the new company that will be formed, indicated Charamelo.
Portland, the center of the conflict
Today will also be a key day for the union conflict in which they are involved Ancap and his union, Ancap Federation (Fancap). The workers’ organization carries out different strength measures for four months in rejection of the opening of the Portland business to a private partner, understanding that the initiative is a step towards privatization of the resources of the state oil company, in addition to a risk for existing jobs.
In that sense, the union postponed a assembly for this Thursday, with the aim of making decisions based on the results of the opening of envelopes this afternoon. In the original meeting agreed for last week, Fancap would decide, among other things, whether to continue with the resolution to work according to regulations or whether, instead, agree to carry out extra hours during the technical stoppage at the refinery The Tile —essential so that the work can be done according to the original schedule, and that it does not extend considerably along with the budget and the losses caused by the stopped plant.
However, the decision to postpone the assembly was not well received by the board of directors. Ancap, that resolved to suspend the passage to the maintenance area of some 120 refining operators who would work on the unit strike, as they had requested.
Likewise, these officials will begin to work on a fixed shift —from 7 to 15 according to the general work regime for personnel assigned to the unit strike—, so the compensation associated with the rotating integral tourism of the entire system will also cease to apply. non-essential refining personnel. This means that of 280 workers, about 200—who do not perform essential tasks for the supply of fuel to the population— They will lose a large percentage of their salaries; in some cases, up to half.
Source: Ambito
