The payment of the Hidroituango policy, which came as a miracle to save the megaproject that will produce 17% of the country’s energy, did not happen overnight. Nor was it thanks to Mayor Daniel Quintero, but, at times, despite him.
Since September 6, just over three months ago, when the Comptroller’s Office issued the decision of responsibility, two sides were clearly defined. On one side, there was Mayor Quintero, who claimed in all his statements that the contractors had to pay. And, on the other hand, there were President Iván Duque and Governor Aníbal Gaviria, who insisted that the payment had to be made by the insurance company.
Quintero thus ratified his interest in changing the builders, which made it clear to his first EPM manager, Álvaro Guillermo Rendón, from the day he became Mayor. Since then he asked him to have a plan b, which became famous in the corridors of the smart building.
For their part, President Iván Duque and Governor Aníbal Gaviria were clear that the priority was to save Hidroituango and that is why they assured that the exit was the payment of the policies. Among other things, because the megaproject, according to specialists, has one of the best all-risk insurance on the market.
The first ruling of the Comptroller’s Office, on September 6, fell to the mayor like a glove. Quintero escalated his speech against the contractors: he treated them as corrupt, despite the fact that nowhere in the ruling was there any talk of corruption. But for Quintero, with a bit of opportunism and a lot of quarreling with the truth, this speech serves to propagandize himself.
The moves made by the mayor seemed to seek, at all costs, that the insurance did not pay. First, when he demanded to file the lawsuit (which caused the resignation of the EPM Board of Directors). At that time the insurers took note: if there is demand it is because there is no accident and, therefore, the policy would not have to be paid.
And secondly, Quintero even used false arguments: that the Comptroller’s ruling said that the builders had lowered the quality of “iron and bolts.” Which is not found in any of the 2,100 pages of the ruling. However, every time Quintero repeated it, the insurers asked whether or not it had been an accident, whether or not it was their turn to pay the policy.
Meanwhile, the president and the governor, in their own way, were launching their artillery. “Insurers must answer for Hidroituango. We cannot be playing with uncertainty, “said the president emphatically on October 15. And two days before, the governor put a loudspeaker on his Twitter saying: “Hidroituango’s solution is, has been and will be, as it should be: PAYMENT BY INSURANCE COMPANIES.”
The evidence that Mayor Quintero did not believe or did not want the insurance companies to pay is precisely in the reply he made to that trill of the governor: “No, Mr. Governor, it is not an insurance problem. It is a problem of dignity. That those responsible pay for their damages and not the citizens. Insurance does not cover a billion dollars in damages (4 trillion) ”.
It is not clear if Mayor Quintero did not know how Hidroituango’s insurance works or if he knew and preferred to engage in harangues against the contractors and the project.
The truth is that by that time, almost a month before, on September 15, a key summit had taken place in Madrid: President Iván Duque and Mapfre’s world president, Antonio Huertas Mejía. At that meeting, Duque informed him of the situation and they left open a communication channel to continue working together on the case. In the first talk, the CEO of Mapfre gave him to understand that they were going to pay everything that corresponded to them. Likewise, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Diego Mesa, was connected with the president of Mapfre in Latin America and both established such fluid communication that in recent weeks the conversations were practically daily.
Meanwhile, at EPM there was a kind of continuity vacuum. Well, the director of corporate insurance, Tatiana Isaza, who for almost 10 years had handled EPM’s insurance and had an excellent relationship with the insurers – in fact, she was the one who had managed to get them to pay the first $ 350 million – had given up his position and this, right at this critical moment, remained empty for several months.
Added to that, Mayor Quintero was determined to bid or get other contractors; insurance didn’t seem to be her priority. So much so that last week, on December 2, EPM’s manager, Jorge Carrillo, announced that he was going to publish the bidding documents before the end of the week.
Two days later, on December 4, the CEO of Mapfre promised the President that he would pay — something that Minister Mesa and the CEO of Latin America had already discussed. The big question is whether Jorge Carrillo, the manager of EPM, was already aware of the news on December 2. Because if you didn’t know, it is significant; And if he knew and what he did was announce the bidding documents, it leaves a bad taste as to whether their priority is the Hidroituango project or to deliver a new contract. We are not talking about something less: 4.1 trillion pesos is a very appetizing amount.
What Carrillo promised that December 2, the publication of the specifications before the end of the week, finally did not happen.
To all of these, an EPM team had a meeting scheduled with Mapfre towards the end of November in Madrid to continue with the legal adjustment process, which is the process followed to claim any insurance and determine how much was lost due to the accident and how much must pay the insurer. As the second instance ruling of the Comptroller’s Office was known on November 26, the EPM team thought that perhaps they were not going to receive them, but the opposite happened: they received them, precisely, so that they could explain the decision of the entity of control.
At that time, understanding the impact that the Comptroller’s ruling could have on Mapfre – it could disable it in all its contracts – and with the commitment already acquired with President Duque, they decided to notify him of the full payment of the policy.
As published by EPM in relevant information from the Superfinanciera, plus what is stipulated in the pre-agreement that must become a definitive agreement between today and the first days of next week, $ 633.5 million would be disbursed, which is added to the 350 million dollars they have already paid, for a total of 983.5 million dollars. Thus, it reaches 1,083 million dollars (which would be 4.3 trillion pesos with the change to 3,970 pesos per dollar); To this would be added the payment of other policies, known as directors and officers, which must be paid by other insurers.
And the magic date: no later than January 31, 2022, the payment would be made. Moment in which the ruling of the Comptroller’s Office would be without effect
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