Aerial view of MonĂłmeros main factory in Barranquilla, Colombia. Photo: MonĂłmeros.
The governments of Presidents Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and Gustavo Petro in Colombia are working on a contingency plan to recover the operation of MonĂłmeros, Venezuela’s main fertilizer producer in Colombia. These plans were reported by the new general manager of MonĂłmeros, Iván Sánchez Hernández.
“As it is in the public domain, we find the company in a complex situation from the financial point of view. We are going to work on the issues of maintenance and raw materials, which is essential for it not to be affected anymore,” Sánchez explained in an interview with El Heraldo, a Colombian media outlet.
The official said that the plan contemplates, among other aspects, the transfer of raw materials from its headquarters in Venezuela to the plants in Barranquilla and Buenaventura, in Colombia.
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According to Sánchez, once the board appointed by the Venezuelan Petrochemical Company (Pequiven) takes full control of the company, the first ship will arrive with between 12,000 and 14,000 tons of urea and other raw materials, such as KCL, ammonia and phosphate rock, required for industrial production in Monómeros.
The manager also upheld that the contingency plan will impact “Colombia in a transverse way, especially with the urea that will arrive at a preferential price and with payment facilities,” which should stabilize the operation of the Venezuelan company in the short term.
A price reduction of fertilizers in the domestic market is also expected. Fertilizer prices in Venezuela have risen by over 40% since 2019, partly due to the effect of corruption and mismanagement by the board appointed by former deputy Juan GuaidĂł, as well as the criminal blockade imposed by the United States on the Venezuelan people.
“The measures against Venezuela in the Monómeros case directly affected producers and consumers, since it is a company that affects the entire production chain in Colombia,” Sánchez pointed out.
Sánchez downplayed speculation that once the company returns to the hands of the Venezuelan State, the Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will suspend the operating license that it was granted until June 2023, since this would mainly affect Colombian interests.
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“The first affected would be Colombia; we expect the accompaniment of the authorities and that they give us the opportunity to work as we have been doing, with a good performance,” he said in this regard.
On the other hand, he stated that the new board of directors is waiting for the Colombian Superintendency of Corporations to ratify its registration, just as the Barranquilla Chamber of Commerce did on September 15.
“Since there is no other recourse, we have to take control of the company accordingly,” Sánchez said in relation to the awaited decision, which would put an end to the situation of dispossession that has been in force since January 2019.
To conclude, the executive sent “a message of calm” to workers, customers and suppliers about the future of the company: “We are going to fix it,” he said.
El Heraldo reported that “Iván Sánchez is an agricultural engineer with a master’s degree in industrial processes. He is Colombian-Venezuelan born in Barranquilla whose professional career has been developed in various sectors in Venezuela, such as oil and gas.”
Sánchez was proposed as general manager of the company in mid-June by Venezuela’s state petrochemical company Pequiven, a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). If the procedure in the Superintendency is resolved positively, as the government of President Gustavo Petro has stated, it will replace Guillermo RodrĂguez Laprea, the supposed general manager appointed by former deputy Juan GuaidĂł, who has tried, without success, to preserve his position.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
