Power sharing in a key sector: the new energy secretary does not appoint his own staff

Energy Secretary Flavia Royón has in her hands the increase in electricity and gas tariffs. However, the implementation of this policy is in other offices: the rise of light is managed by the undersecretary for electricity, headed by Santiago Yanotti. And that of gas corresponds to Federico Bernal, Undersecretary for Hydrocarbons.

Just as Royón was selected by Massa, the officials who support him have other contacts in the governing coalition: Yanotti reports to the head of cabinet, Juan Manzur, while Bernal refers to vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

That distribution of power in the sentence the functioning of the Energy Secretariat in the previous administration was already complicated, when Darío Martínez was there. And now he begins to repeat himself in the management of Royón.

In Energy there was a series of shifts and pieces that were moved from one place to another. Secretary Royón has to complete the organization chart. But the names must pass through the filter of the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa.

the major gaps appear in issues relating to electricity. Federico Basualdo was the Undersecretary of Electricity. He left with Darío Martínez. His position was occupied by Santiago Yanotti.

“Don’t name anyone here”they told Royón as soon as he took office, according to what was written to Santiago Fioriti on Sunday Clarione in his column “The intimacy of power”.

Yanotti was vice president of Cammesa. In addition to having Manzur’s support, former secretary Martínez had also set him to make a diagram of the segmentation in light.

Basualdo’s departure also brought consequences. Enre’s controller, Soledad Manín, referred to the former secretary of electricity. You have made your resignation available. To the government they say they need Enre more than ever to inform distributors’ customers in Buenos Aires about what the new billing will look like.

Also there was changes to Cammesa. The wholesale administrator of the electricity system bears the debt of the distributors, which exceeds 400,000 million dollars. The latter claim that they cannot pay for the energy they give to their customers due to the low price of their bills, especially in the case of Edenor and Edesur.

Cammesa is usually heavily guarded by every officer in charge of Energy. Martínez placed Ariel Kogan, his right hand, there. Then, the one in charge there was Basualdo, who appointed Sebastián Bonetto general manager. Now, Royón will take over the presidency. But it remains to be defined who the second lines will be. Massa has some names under study. Some vice presidencies and general management are critical to the company.

Royón as president is a way to tone down the internal ones. Gonzalo Soriano was appointed vice president. The latter was inside Undersecretary for Strategic Planning for a very short period of time. This office – when it was occupied by Santiago López Osornio – was able to be the one that implemented the ideas of the Minister of Economy, Martín Guzmán, who clashed with the Kirchnerist wing. López Osornio has left with Guzmán. And Soriano, who held the post for a few weeks, ended up in Cammesa. The new undersecretary for strategic planning is Cecilia Garibotti, considered more technical than political.

Federico Bernal was the controller of Enargas. This body regulates the concessions of gas distributors. Bernal’s name has been shaken as a potential secretary for energy and – in the industry – President Alberto Fernández is said to have opposed that promotion. Anyway, Bernal was promoted to Undersecretary for Hydrocarbons.

In the sector they estimate that Osvaldo Pitrau will occupy the chair that belonged to Bernal in Enargas. Pitrau is the general manager of the regulator. Those who spoke to him also describe him as a technician.