The Judiciary, questioned by its faculty of sanction

Ecuadornews:

From this April 29, 2019 began to circulate the $ 2 bill in the windows of the Central Bank of Ecuador (ECB) of Quito. The ECB reported that since the beginning of dollarization, in 2000, the entity had not imported tickets of that denomination.

According to the entity, the imported remittance seeks to satisfy the demand for low denomination banknotes that exist in the country, especially in businesses such as stores, groceries, markets, restaurants, commercial premises, among others.

“The circulation of low denomination banknotes (one, two and five dollars) is a mechanism that helps avoid the classic round in the prices of goods and services, especially those that are part of the basic basket” , assured John Arroyo, deputy manager of Services of the BCE. According to the ECB, the demand for $ 5 bills increased by 51.53% last year compared to 2017.

For now, the $ 2 bill will circulate in the windows of the ECB of the Platform Financial, in Quito. On May 6 the service will be extended to Guayaquil and on May 7 to Cuenca, at the offices of the BCE of each city.

On the front of the bill is the image of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, between 1801 and 1809. On the reverse, on the other hand, there appears a representation of the Declaration of Independence of that country, drawn up by the painter John Trumbull.

This denomination is printed since 1862. The ECB noted that the citizen should take into account that the $ 2 bill has the following securities: a subtle carving, which can be felt when passing the fingertip through the reliegve of the area of ​​the Jefferson clothes and the crisp sound that occurs when handling it, due to the consistency of the paper and the texture. Additionally, on the obverse there are fibrillar blue and red. 

12. The market of the ports in Guayaquil is in a marked reconfiguration. There, the largest private investments are concentrated and that is where 86% of the total non-oil load of the entire national port system is mobilized.

According to the report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the port area of ​​Guayaquil grew 10.29% in 2018, in relation to the previous year. In that category, the containerized cargo was included by the Simón Bolívar Multipurpose Port, operated by Contecon by State delegation, and by the Qualified Private Terminals (TPH).

The volume that they moved among all was 2.064 million TEU (unit of measure of a container of 20 feet). But if the figures are broken down, market share has been changing in the last three years. Contecon went from handling 66% of the cargo, in 2016, to a smaller piece of cake. In contrast, competitors with domestic and foreign private capital have gained ground.

The main ones are: Guayaquil Port Terminal (TPG), which is a subsidiary of the Chilean capital company SAAM; Bananapuerto, administered by Naportec, which is Dole’s operator in Ecuador; and Fertisa, of the Wong Group.

According to the Association of Private Port Terminals of Ecuador (Asotep), together, the TPH handled more than 50% of the cargo in Guayaquil in 2018. This union was founded in 1993 with the vision of uniting the firms that operate new terminals private.

The investments of these groups totaled USD 410.4 million in 2017. This year, docks and infrastructure will be expanded to adapt to the new draft of the access channel to the ports of Guayaquil, 12.5 m.

TPG and Bananapuerto have expanded their docks and for the coming months expect new gantry cranes to lower container ships and to operate in the yards. Javier Moreira, president of the Ecuadorian Chamber of Shipping (Camae), points out that the development of the sector is due to the free competition that exists.

It calculates that in 2020 the market will be consolidated with private investments, which are more than USD 1 billion throughout the country. The item includes the Port of Deep Waters of Posorja, which last week received 13 cranes with which it will operate from August.

Expand The multipurpose port Opera Contecon has lost market in cargo handling. Photo: Archivo / EL COMERCIO Explain that, if the competition had not been opened to the private sector, “we were still operating with the Peiner crane in Guayaquil”.

It was an old structure that ended up as scrap metal. Remember that before the state port was concessioned in 2007, there was already competition. Seven companies, called “permit holders”, had their space commissioned, equipment, warehouses, but the operation was chaotic.

Meanwhile, private terminals that had been authorized to be built between 1970 and 2004, according to Asotep, began to develop. For José Antonio Contreras, manager of Contecon, there is “a distortion” in the market.

Considers that the TPH provide a public service without having gone through a contest. “We do not want anyone to disappear, but let us compete and with the same rules.” A year ago, he requested the authorities to analyze the sector.

The 2017 lost 30% of the load and says it means less revenue for the State. The company invested USD 340 million in 10 years. A study by the Superintendency of Market Power Control recommended that the Ministry of Transportation review the TPH contracts, not issue expansion permits and reform the standard; as well as setting a port tariff.

But Minister Aurelio Hidalgo said that the text is under analysis to see if it is applicable and considered that “it is not mandatory.” Sergio Murillo, president of Asotep, wrote on Twitter that the report limits the capacity of private ports and gives the market a single operator, which is equal to monopoly and higher costs for Ecuadorian foreign trade. (I)

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/judicial/12/consejonacionaldelajudicatura-gustavojalkh-csj