Notebook entrepreneurs and other surprises in the pipeline work

The tender for the construction of the Nestor Kirchner gas pipeline was the first official act that fell to Minister Silvina Batakis. She zoomed in on him and the screen showed a typical office with cramped spaces and low light.

There Agustín Gerez, in charge of the administration of what will be the most important public work, announced the names of the candidates for the competition on 8 July reserved only for local companies as time is running out. The idea is that the delayed pipeline is ready June 20, 2023, unsatisfactory term as admitted by the Government.

Five companies were presented: BTU, Techint-Sacde, Esuco, TGS and Contreras Brothers-Víctor Contreras. They are construction companies with many years on the market. And the statement was made with the intention of leaving out smaller companies to ensure speed. One excluded, in fact, He was the builder of Cristóbal López.

What is striking is that many of the companies have been affected by the corruption notebook scandal. “Yes, but nobody is Lázaro Baez”, An official cut just before Clarin’s question.

One case is BTU, Carlos Mundin’s construction company which participated in all sections of the tender which includes a gas compression plant. Mundin He was jailed for five months and came out with a partial dismissal. Next to him they point out that the company is now in the hands of their son, but that he follows the entire process due to his “vast experience”.

Another is that of Esuco, the construction company of Carlos Wagner, former president of the Chamber of Construction for most of the Kirchner period. He was imprisoned for 15 days and declared repentant. Wagner has also handed over the management of the company to his sons, but remains with the company.

In the case of the Contreras Brothers alliance with Víctor Contreras, both detached from the original branch, only the Contreras Brothers appeared in the notebooks and some of its leaders were imprisoned. the signature he had already been investigated for allegedly paying bribes in Brazil in the context of Lava Jato. It is a construction company expert in the crossing of gas pipelines by rivers.

Techint, that appeared in notebooks with officials being fired, it was presented for all sections together with Sacde, the construction company that belonged to Pérez Companc and is now part of the Pampa group, whose main shareholder is Marcelo Mindlin. Techint is the largest pipeline builder in the region.

TGS, Transportadora de gas del Sur, is also trying to be part of the works by the gas compression plant.

In the government they calculated the cost at US $ 70 per inch and per meter. The inches are 36 in the case of pipes and the meters are 573,000. Therefore, in this part it would reach 1,443 million dollars. They ensure that the money comes from wealth tax.

They say that Gerez, president of the state company Ieasa (Argentine Energy Integration), is a lawyer who has approached the public service because of the relationship between his father, a lawyer from Santa Cruz, and the Kirchner family. he is deciding how to distribute the work which will travel 573 kilometers between the city of Neuquén of Treatyén and Salliqueló, in the western part of the province of Buenos Aires, crossing Río Negro and La Pampa.

The pipeline will allow for a 25% increase in the capacity of the natural gas transportation system and is crucial for extracting gas from Vaca Muerta.