2024-08-28 09:41:25
In the first six months of 2024, the Executive has spent less than the autonomous governments. On the Public Procurement portal, processes worth USD 1.82 billion have been awarded.
2024 has been, so far, a slow year for project execution. In addition to the delay in the implementation of the National Investment Plan, the Government has had a relaxed year in public procurement.
Between January and June 2024, contracts worth USD 1.82 billion have been awarded through the Public Procurement portal. This includes all public institutions, whether they are part of the five functions of the State, independent or part of decentralized autonomous governments.
This is an extremely low figure, not only in terms of amount but also in terms of the number of contracting processes, compared to previous years. In fact, it is less than half of what was spent on Public Procurement in 2020, one of the lowest years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This low level of public procurement can have several reasons. On the one hand, the Government is seriously behind in the implementation of the National Investment Plan, which is the one that brings together the large contracts for works from the Executive. On the other hand, in general public institutions tend to leave a good part of their contracts for the end of the year.
This is confirmed by analysing who has spent the most. Data from the first half of 2024 show that the Executive has awarded contracts for less value than the decentralised autonomous governments have done.
Between January and June, the institutions that correspond to the Executive Branch have awarded contracts for USD 524 million, while the autonomous governments (provincial, municipal and cantonal) have awarded contracts for USD 582 million.
Those who hire the most
Two public companies of the Executive head the list of entities that have awarded the highest amount in the first six months of 2024: Petroecuador and CNEL. These two companies are almost always at the top of this ranking, being the ones that spend the most.
Petroecuador is in first place. It has awarded 60 contracts for USD 116 million; among them is the USD 89 million contract assigned to Latina de Seguros for the institution’s insurance policy, one of the largest and most expensive in the public sector. The contract was awarded last March.
Secondly, there is the National Electricity Corporation (CNEL), which has several smaller contracts totaling USD 63 million. For example, it has 18 contracts of between one and three million dollars, which include the purchase of transformers, measuring equipment and computers.
Only two executive institutions appear in the top 10 of largest buyers. In third place is the National Service for the Attention of Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), which recently awarded a contract for USD 52 million for the construction of a maximum security prison in the province of Santa Elena, in the Costa Este region. The process is confidential, but the Chinese subsidiary Puentes y Calzadas was awarded the contract. This contract has not yet been uploaded (nor has its record) on the Public Procurement portal.
And in fourth place is the Ministry of Education, which has awarded contracts worth USD 45 million. A large part of this amount is the purchase orders for school breakfasts, which are about to be renewed in new contracts that will be awarded in the next few days.
In these first places are also two municipalities: Quito and Guayaquil, the largest in the country, in addition to two prefectures: Guayas and Sucumbíos.
The Ecuadorian Electric Corporation (CELEC) also appears in this “top 10”, although it does not include the emergency purchases that this public company is making, including an electric generation barge to overcome the electricity crisis.
The largest contracts
In the first six months of 2024, public institutions have awarded 198 contracts with amounts of more than USD 1 million.
In this period, there are only two contracts worth more than 15 million. The largest contract, so far, is the USD 89 million contract of Petroecuador, for its insurance policies, awarded to Latina de Seguros. And the second largest is the contract for the construction of the Cárcel del Encuentro, in Santa Elena, for USD 52 million awarded to Puentes y Calzadas.
Among the most expensive, there are also three contracts worth more than USD 9 million:
The construction of the new Land Terminal on the coast road in Guayaquil, awarded to the company Ripconciv Constructores Civiles for USD 10.25 million.
The urban regeneration of León Febres Cordero Avenue, in Daule, awarded to Leonardo Noblecilla for USD 10.13 million.
The provision of 1 million passport booklets, at USD 9.58 million, awarded by the Civil Registry to the Military Geographic Institute.
Use methodological: The information for this article was taken from the Public Procurement open data portal, so it does not include emergency contracts or contracts for very small amounts. For the categorization of public institutions, PRIMICIAS used the catalog of public sector institutions of the Ministry of Finance, and the sectoral ones used by the General State Budget for the categorization of State Administration institutions.
By: PRIMICIAS