In the last hours it was known that Juan José Echavarría and Luis Alberto Zuleta resigned from the board of directors of Ecopetrol, because they do not share the decision to give up the business with Oxy that would allow it to expand its fracking operations in the United States.
According to the criteria of
They don’t share that either the majority of the members of the board of directors will change their vote and decide not to support this business, ie after President Gustavo Petro told them he did not agree with him.
According to the former Minister of Finance, Mauricio Cárdenas, This is the first time this has happened in the history of Eipetrol, since the establishment of a corporate government with the representation of the independent members on the board to play a role not in favor of the Government, but in favor of the company and all its shareholders.
Juan José Echavarría was the representative of the minority shareholders of Epetrol, and Luis Alberto Zuleta was an independent member who joined the board in March 2023, after being nominated by the National Government.
Both people wrote a letter of resignation sent, among other things, to the president of Eipetrol, Ricardo Roa; to the board of directors and the general meeting of shareholders of the company, and to the Ministry of Finance.
Juan José Echavarría and Luis Alberto Zuleta.
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The first thing they need to ask is to come together
to an assembly
However, the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, declared that these two members of the board of directors must resign before the general assembly of Ecopetrol shareholders.
“That is to say that the first thing they have to ask is for an assembly to be called, they cannot abandon it to anyone and, from what I understand, it is not even irrevocable, it is it’s more of a personal act,” he said.
He said that too Juan José Echavarría and Luis Alberto Zuleta must continue to attend the sessions of the board of directors until the assembly accepts their resignation and, to date, Epettrol has not requested an assembly.
Minister Ricardo Bonilla’s statements are not in line with what has happened in recent years when other members of the board of directors resigned, nor with what is ordered in the regulations.
President of Epetrol, Ricardo Roa.
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For example, In February of last year, the resignation of Carlos Gustavo Cano was announced. through a statement shared with the media, but was not sent to a meeting of shareholders to accept it.
The same thing happened in June 2022 when Eopetrol published a press release announcing the resignation of Juan Emilio Posada, who at that time was appointed president of ISA.
In addition, in regulations of the Ecopetrol board of directors, With regard to resignation, it is only established that, if a resignation or vacancy occurs for any member before the end of their term or before a general meeting of shareholders, the vacancy will be filled at the next ordinary meeting.
This is the procedure to be followed as long as the quorum of the board of directors that is required to deliberate and make a decision is not affected, which is at least five members. If the quorum is affected, the president of Eipetrol may call an extraordinary meeting to restore the board.
Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance.
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The fracking business between Eipetrol and Oxy, another contradiction
The Government continues to insist that fracking will not be carried out in Colombia
The Minister of Finance also contradicted the version given by the president of Epettrol, Ricardo Roa. about the reasons that led the board of directors not to approve the agreement with Oxy to increase fracking operations in the United States.
At the beginning of August, Ricardo Roa expressed that This rejection was based on the fact that the business represented a high debt that the company could not accept, ie and it was recognized that it was an attractive opportunity for the company.
However, Minister Ricardo Bonilla contradicted this argument and declared that the rejection was because it was a fracking business. “The Government is always insisting that fracking will not be done in Colombia and that the contract was for fracking,” he declared.
In their letter of resignation, Juan José Echavarría and Luis Alberto Zuleta stated this In May 2024, the board of directors approved by a majority (seven votes in favor and two against) the acquisition of 30 percent of this fracking project, ie Therefore, on July 17, the market was informed that negotiations were underway with Oxy.
Meeting by President Gustavo Petro with members of the board of directors of Epetrol.
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Decisions were made that go against the interests of the company
However, on July 31, 2024, they informed the members of the board of directors, at an informal meeting in Bucaramanga, President Gustavo Petro told Ricardo Roa and some members of the board that he did not agree with the project. for three basic reasons: to invest in fracking, it meant putting more debt on Eipetrol and it meant sending resources from Colombia abroad.
“The Board then decided, by majority, not to continue the business (our vote remained positive, of course). Furthermore, it was considered impossible to complete the project without the support of the Government,” they say in the resignation letter.
Juan José Echavarría and Luis Alberto Zuleta’s version also contradicts Ricardo Roa’s statements, a On August 13, he confirmed that the deal with Oxy was not rejected due to interference from President Gustavo Petro.
For the former Minister of Finance, Mauricio Cárdenas, these two directors resigned “which shows that decisions have been made that go against the interests of the company and which is in line with the Government’s ideology, without consulting what is really best for the company.