A compliance audit conducted by the Comptroller General of the Republic of Peru to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC), the National Port Authority (APN) and Proinversión revealed a series of alleged irregularities in the processes related to the Multipurpose Port Terminal of Chancay.
According to the report of the supervisory body, Proinversión validated, processed and signed an investment contract for the Special Regime for Early Recovery of the General Sales Tax (IGV), in addition to five subsequent addenda.
The above occurred despite the fact that the representatives of Terminales Portuarios Chancay S.A. (currently Cosco Shipping Ports Chancay Perú) lacked the legal power required by current regulations to sign said document, reported El Comercio.
As a consequence, the company accessed and remained in this tax benefit, receiving refunds totaling S/ 527.8 million (USD 153.9 million).
The control report also pointed out failures on the part of the APN, the institution that approved the technical file and granted the port authorizations for the work. This, despite the existence of discrepancies between the tunnel route contemplated in the file and the one approved in the current environmental certification. Likewise, it was verified that the document omitted the environmental protection measure for the geotubes and that timely measures were not taken when the tunnel was executed in a section different from the authorized one.
For its part, it was observed that the MTC did not carry out a comprehensive technical evaluation of the information derived from the environmental supervisions. This omission was related to the change in the tunnel route, the suspension of the sand transfer and the maintenance of the geotubes, which limited the timely application of sanctions for alleged non-compliance with environmental obligations.
Given these findings, the Comptroller General of the Republic recommended that its Public Prosecutor’s Office initiate civil actions related to the investment contract and the tax benefit granted, along with bringing to the attention of the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office for Corruption Crimes the facts related to the port authorizations. Additionally, the body ordered that both the APN and the MTC execute the pertinent actions to determine the responsibilities of the public officials and servants involved.
