Citizen Participation Council calls for Correa’s linkage in the case of the Pacific refinery

Ecuadornews:

“We have come to present documents that justify our complaint for the biggest robbery against the economy of the country.” With those words, Julio César Trujillo, head of the transitory Citizen Participation Council, was presented today, February 11, 2019, in the Office of the Prosecutor.

Trujillo asked that former President Rafael Correa be linked in the investigation into the abuse of public resources and the encouragement to conduct business with the State, in relation to the Pacific Refinery project. In the complaint he annexed the investigation report on the project, which states that Correa issued the Executive Decrees through which the entire system called Petroecuador was declared an emergency, without any technical justification for the measure.

The Council of Transitional Citizen Participation, through a communiqué, pointed out an alleged damage to the State since the acquisition of the land, licenses, patents, of a refinery that does not exist. Correa, who has resided in Belgium since he left power two years ago, through his social network account Twitter disqualified Trujillo, and said that with this they would add 21 processes against him. “For the umpteenth time, it takes ‘case’ Pacific Refinery. Hopefully now they will try something. USD 1 351 million has been invested, which includes aqueduct for water from 3 cantons, “said the ex-governor.

The Council’s statement details that the emergency declaration established a regime of exception in the oil sector that enabled the legal framework for the Ministry of Economy and Finance to deliver public resources from EP Petroecuador to the Refinería del Pacifico RDP CEM, in 2008 and 2009, for a total of USD 50,352,000. And with the same legal framework, two contracts were signed between the Refinería del Pacífico and the company SK, for the “Studies to determine the Environmental Baseline for construction of the Complex Refining and Petrochemical Project of the Pacific “and for the” Conceptual Engineering Studies for the Development of the Project “, respectively, for a total value of USD 50 775 246.”

That state of exception, whose declaration was not based on technical reasons “, Adds the statement,” also enabled the delivery of resources, by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, to EP Petro Ecuador, to contribute as a shareholder to the company Refinería del Pacífico CEM, a total of USD 53,662,000. Additionally, the Transitory Council requested the involvement of former Vice President Jorge Glas Espinel, on the assumption that, in his capacity as coordinator of the strategic sectors, “I would have known and would be involved in the misappropriation of public funds (embezzlement), leading a public corruption network with the participation of private actors.” (I)

Source: https://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/cpccs-vinculacion-correa-refineria-pacifico.html