Public Firms Crisis | Crisis de empresas públicas

By Erbol:

CALLS IT A SHAME

Government reveals bankruptcies and losses of public companies: “they left us a Molotov cocktail”

The OFEP made the presentation.

The Government, through the Office for the Oversight of Public Enterprises (OFEP), presented this Thursday a report on the financial situation of state-owned companies, which shows sustained losses, low generation of own revenues, growing dependence on debt, and bankruptcies.

The director of the OFEP, Pablo Camacho, stated that each of these companies is a “shame” and lamented that resources were squandered over 20 years to finance “a narrative of industrialization, of productive sovereignty, of import substitution.”

According to the authority, out of a total of 67 public companies in Bolivia, at least 15 are in “technical bankruptcy,” with accumulated losses of 2.655 billion bolivianos and negative equity of 1.901 billion.

Camacho warned that these figures could increase, as there are another eight companies under evaluation that could reach the same level of critical condition.

“They took 72.888 billion bolivianos from our Reserves, more than 10 billion dollars from our Reserves,” he said.

He pointed out that these resources could have been used for hospitals, schools, or roads, but were “squandered over 20 years by companies that do not produce, by companies that do not generate value.”

The head of the OFEP questioned industrial projects that lacked basic planning, such as plants without secured raw materials. He mentioned cases linked to biodiesel production and explained that crops of African palm and macororó have not been planted, whose production timelines would be four and nine years.

“The previous Government left us a Molotov cocktail, but also with the fuse lit. Today we not only show the bomb, but the damage to the economy of all Bolivians,” he stated.

The authority announced that the data are available on the digital platform “Knowing the Truth,” on the OFEP website (https://www.ofep.gob.bo/informacion_empresas_publicas).

Camacho also noted that, despite the existence of the entity since 2013, information about these companies was not publicly accessible and was limited to a small group of authorities. Finally, he stated that the disclosure of this data is part of a transparency process promoted by the current Government.

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