In the Government there is a critical look towards the Italian Enel and its management of the Edesur distributor. The last spark was due to the cuts of December 31st. Walter Martello, controller of the regulatory body (Enre) made statements on the radio that there were “the possibility that the State buys the shares” from Edesur, which are for sale. However, in dialogue with clarionhe relativized that possibility and put it into perspective.
“The state you can deal with a distributor, Yes. But there must be a law, an administrative act, it doesn’t come from nowhere,” explained the auditor. “We also have to be careful that it doesn’t cause a dispute in ICSID (the World Bank’s dispute resolution body),” he added.
Even if the national state and Edesur argue disagreements after the pandemic, The controller – who regulates the company’s activity, but not its share package – clarified “that I am speaking of possibilities, not of concrete facts that will be seized. It’s a description of what’s possible to do,” he said.
Hammer, who comes from the kidney of the Civic Coalition (he was one of the biggest gaming industry whistleblowers in that political space) He was an ombudsman and highly critical of Edesur in that role.
“It is absolutely true that he raises the possibility of nationalization as an ombudsman. But now I am a regulator of electricity distributors that are under the orbit of the nation state,” he says.
The Italian Enel, which has announced its intention to sell its assets in the country, owns about 75% of Edesur’s shares. In the event that the national state wants to buy these shares, there are several steps to follow.
“The policy in question (the purchase of Edesur shares) concerns a decision that – in my opinion – must have broad consensus, since it involves various efforts “, squeeze.
It is estimated that the value of Edesur about 250 million dollarsaccording to the calculations circulating in the government.
“You have to keep in mind that this brings other additional resources, such as future investments,” Martello says. “Clearly surpasses my personal opinion. It’s a political decision that needs to be made on another level,” he said.
The friendship of the Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, with the owners of Edenor (José Luis Manzano and Daniel Vila) has led some electricity market operators to suspect a purchase operation on Edesur in which the State and those entrepreneurs participate. “It’s complicated. It requires dollars that the government doesn’t have, it would bring a lot of political noise. I’m giving him little chance,” says a competitor from Mendoza, who asks not to be identified.
Kirchnerism flirted several times with the idea of revoking the Edesur concession. The official argument is that it does not provide its services satisfactorily. The company usually replies that it does not have sufficient interest rates to make investments. In fact, he said they are -at least- 300% behind accumulated inflation.
ENRE has issued fines to Edesur with a certain frequency, for each interruption of the supply. However, each of these fines is being appealed and it may take some time before they are actually enforced.
Some concession specialists understand that a certain number of fines (especially large ones) can be grounds for canceling the concession, but others disagree. The biggest coincidence is that Such a decision may lead to a lawsuit against the nation state, one of those that do not set the best precedent when it comes to making investments.
Enel has announced its intention to leave Argentina, Peru and Romania. Instead, it will remain in Brazil, Chile and Colombia. The asset disposal also includes the generation business, in which they are strong. Central Puerto is mentioned as one of the potential stakeholders. There have already been contacts between Enel and potential investors. For this mission to be fruitful, according to the entrepreneurs in the sector, less state intervention in the enterprise would be desirable.
Source: Clarin
