The president assured that he will “ensure the national interest” in the case of alleged “anti-competitive practices” in the Port of Montevideo.
President Luis Lacalle Pou He assured that he will “watch over the national interest,” when referring to the demand for Montecon for 600 million dollars, which he demands as compensation before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank.
“We support the largest port investment in the history of the country and the affected businessmen to appeal,” he stated about the complaint for “losses and damages” when considering that there were “anti-competitive practices” in the Port of Montevideofollowing the agreement between the government and Katoen Natie in 2021.
In that sense, the president indicated that he will “ensure the national interest, that there is investments and more job in the port”, while countering that the demand “is an issue of businessmen who supposedly see their interests affected and go down that path.”
“Obviously I don’t share it and when you see what types of users there are in the port, it seems to me that some were privileged at the time,” he noted.
By highlighting its management in port matters, he valued the agreement with Argentina for dredging to 14 meters. “Recently we achieved something that has been happening for more than 20 years. Uruguay You are looking for the 14 meters of the access channel. “That’s a before and after,” Lacalle Pou stuck out his chest.
The reasons for Montecon’s lawsuit
Montecon, which is owned by the consortium Neltume Ports, whose shareholders are the Chilean Overseas and the Canadian Atco, assured that the appeal before the ICSID is based on the fact that “the Uruguayan state violated the investment protection treaties signed with Chile and Canada”.
For the port operator, the government launched “a series of measures that prevent Montecon from transferring and storing containers in the public docks of the Port of Montevideo, ignoring the legal regime of free competition”.
Montecon maintained that the lawsuit arose “after the unsuccessful closure of a period of consultations and direct negotiations to reach a friendly solution” with the country’s authorities.
Meanwhile, he reported that he initiated a second request before the ICSID in which he denounces “the violation of the principles of the investment protection treaty that Uruguay signed with Canada, for 240 million dollars.”
Source: Ambito
