Regardless of governments, Horomar Shipping Company knows how to handle YPF leadership and close multi-million dollar deals. He did it with macrismo and now the renewal of a contract to use six YPF barges to transport fuel to northern Argentina across the Paraná River creates a scandal.
In January 2019, YPF extended by five years, with an option to extend twice, the contract to transport the fuel by barge from the refineries to northern Argentina. The contract included six barges with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters and two boats. History is repeating itself again, now at the hands of the current leadership of the state oil company.
In 2021, already in the government of Alberto Fernandez and with Sergio Avorente at the helm of the state oil company, extend the contract. It is one of the most sought after conventions and in a vibrant maritime business environment, it has been cited as one of the black holes of government and private corruption. They suspect the tender was tailor-made for Hauramar, according to a note posted on a news portal.
The company Naviera Horamar is owned by the brothers Claudio and Carlos Lopez, who merged in 2008 with Navíos Maritime Holdings, A group born in the middle of the last century as a subsidiary of United States Steel, a company run by JP Morgan that transports iron ore from Canada and Venezuela to the United States.
Over the years, he has added business in the region by “majority stake participation in Navíos South American Logistics Inc., one of the largest infrastructure and logistics companies in the Hidrovía region of South America,” he emphasized in his quarterly reports to Investors. This positions it as a company with a strong ability to secure contracts with YPF.
In reality Jorge Metz, former Undersecretary for Ports and Waterways, previously held the position of Director of Maritime Transport at Huramar between 2007 and 2015.when he took office as a macrista.
At that time, the agreement reached the court. At the end of 2020, before the change of government, Federal Judge Sebastian Ramos issued a precautionary measure in favor of the SuPeh Flota oil consortium., which represents offshore transport workers for YPF-contracted vessels. Ramos ordered the temporary suspension of contracts with Compañía Naviera Horamar, who in September of that year had been awarded a contract worth US$67 million. The procedure was resumed and work continued.
Then Judge Ramos absorbed the responsibilities of the directors of the YPF for a public liability because although it is a public limited company (state) absorbed it into a state-owned company, and its directors could thus bear the same legal responsibility as any public servant.
In the sector they maintain thatNew legislation is necessary, but the Committee on Maritime, River, Fishing and Ports Interests is chaired by Civic Coalition deputy, Marianna ZuvicWhich paralyzed the case, according to reports in the sector.
The news was heavily criticized by sectors of the Kirchners. A group has lamented macrismo’s decision to cut out of business National Shipping, the shipping company founded by former YPF workers whoThey lost their jobs when Mnemis decided to scrap the oil company’s river fleet. That company provided the service for nearly two decades, until the macrismo excluded it from the business in a hotly contested tender.
Noticias Argentinas, without luck, tried to contact those responsible for Horamar at the phone number shown on the shipping company’s official website.. Surprisingly, even the answering machine does not answer directly to a busy number.
