Former President Álvaro Uribe was in favor of the sale of the shares that EPM has in UNE Millicom, which could unbalance the vote in the Medellin Council in favor of the initiative that the mayor’s office and the public service company itself have been promoting, if the Democratic Center caucus supports the position of its political boss.
In a 10-point text, which was made known to this newspaper, former President Uribe emphasizes the limited time that the decision has, which has already had two attempts at approval in the Council and who has not been able to free himself from a vote that twice ended in a tie, what cut his way.
The former president referred to some technical aspects related to the need for the Medellin Council to approve the transaction, which has not yet been possible, mainly because several councilors feel distrust in the allocation that Daniel Quintero’s mayor’s office would make of the $2.8 billion that could result from the sale.
Uribe recalled that Millicom, which is the foreign partner, has control of the telecommunications company and that EPM has until August 2024 to sell its stake to this private party, if it agrees to buy it.
This argument has already been presented by EPM and the Mayor’s Office, which have clarified that it is important to comply with this date to protect public assets, since at that moment the clause that works as a wild card expires so that EPM can exercise its right of exit. of the society. In other words, this mechanism allows EPM to offer its participation to Millicom on a preferential basis.
If this does not happen, EPM will lose a tax that is not minor: putting 100% of the company’s shares up for sale. That would force both companies to sell the entire company together before August 2024.
For this reason, speed is required in the approval made by the Council, since closing a business of this caliber is not something that is done from one moment to another. “If the date expires, the safeguard disappears with uncertainty in the consequences,” said Uribe, who He also referred to concepts from experts on the subject who have said that the sales schedule is tight.
This situation has not been easy in the Medellin Council, where many of the corporations know and accept the need to sell the shares, but have refused to approve it because they feel distrust in the future of the resources. In fact, the proposal has foundered three times, twice in the first commission and most recently in plenary, after an appeal from the district administration.
“There would be two kinds of opposition: one sector opposes the destination of the resources and the other because in no way does it accept reducing public assets,” said former President Uribe. Precisely, the bench of the Democratic Center is made up of several councilors who are opposed to approving the proposal, in part because Mayor Quintero has given several versions about the future of the resources from the sale, which generates mistrust.
He has said that the money from the sale would serve to comply with the development plan, then he said that it would be for the economic reactivation after confinement, then that it would be used for EPM’s investment plan and he even appealed to the ravages caused by winter to justify the sale. He even assured months ago that the money would not enter his administration but the next, the one that is elected in 2023, but then, a few weeks ago, he stated that opponents of the proposal are taking away resources to deal with disasters and emergencies, which indicates that he does contemplate using the money in his government.
What does Uribe propose?
For the former president, one of the options to resolve the situation of mistrust in the use of resources would be to allocate the proceeds of the sale to an investment by EPM or to leverage investments in progress, with a special fund duly supervised. Likewise, he proposed that accompaniment be requested from the academy to define the investment that would be made.
“A magnificent experience in Antioquia should be remembered: under the leadership of former Governor Mario Aramburo, it was decided to dedicate the resources from the sale of the Departmental Railway to the creation of a large development bank, which today is the Institute for the Development of Antioquia (Idea ). Some of us still hold out the hope that it will be the great bank that will give Antioquia financial independence,” said Uribe.
The former president indicated that this is just one example of substitution of assets instead of the expense of a sale resource, which is exceptional and is not part of the current or permanent income.
It remains to be seen what the caucus of the Democratic Center will do after knowing the position of its natural leader. Also how the approval evolves, since the project must be filed again.
In this regard, Councilman Sebastián López, from the Democratic Center bench, reiterated that they maintain the position they have woven around the proposal: recognize the technical importance of the sale of the shares, but condition their approval to a guarantee from Daniel Quintero on the allocation of resources.
López supports the party’s position, which conditions the sale so that its resources are allocated to the less favored populations with projects such as the connection of water, electricity and gas to families that today do not have these public services; the arrival of high-quality internet to strata 1, 2, 3 and to rural sectors; and to create a tariff stabilization fund that benefits the aforementioned strata.