Inai orders Bancomext to publish all the financing it has given to Pemex for the Dos Bocas refinery

The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (Henna) instructed the National Bank of Foreign Trade (Bancomext) provide information on all financing approved to Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and its subsidiaries for the “Olmec Refinery”, in Dos Bocas, Tabasco.

The foregoing, derived from the fact that an individual requested Bancomext information on all the financing approved to Pemex and its subsidiaries for the Dos Bocas Refinerydetailing amounts and characteristics of the original financing, extensions, restructurings, business plans, financial projections that support the financing, minutes of committees and councils where the reports were approved.

Bancomext replied that it did not have the requested information, therefore it declared it as non-existent; Given this response, the applicant filed an appeal for review before the INAI.

The construction of the Dos Bocas refinery would make it possible to increase the supply of gasoline and diesel, with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency in the medium term. gasoline and diesel productionand in this way, offer better prices for these fuels to Mexican consumers.

This is so, because at present our country imports almost 80% of the fuels it consumes; This energy dependence ends up generating a higher price paid by Mexican consumers; Therefore, the plan is to produce more gasoline in our country by modernizing the existing refineries and building a new one, precisely Dos Bocas, to try to reduce the cost of fuel for the ultimate benefit of all Mexican companies and Mexicans who consume gasoline or diesel daily,” said Commissioner Adrián Alcalá Méndez when presenting the case before the Plenary.

He stressed that the project promoted by the current federal government also seeks to increase the production of higher value-added products in the country, take care of the trade balance and promote the economic and social development of southeastern Mexico. To achieve this, Pemex committed to developing this project with the highest levels and standards of efficiency, transparency and ethics, always seeking the greatest benefit for Mexican society.

And after the public development bank’s response, in allegations, the obliged subject reiterated and defended the legality of his response.

In the analysis of the case, in charge of the presentation of Commissioner Adrián Alcalá Méndez, the Institutional Program of the Bank 2020-2024 was consulted, which establishes the axes of government and defines the priority projects for the economic development of the country, such as the Mayan trendthe refinery in Dos Bocas, Tabasco, the Felipe Angeles International Airportthe Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepecthe Mexico-Toluca Trainas well as port infrastructure projects, border bridges and communications throughout the entire national territory.

Likewise, a journalistic note was located that indicates that this agency granted financing in a revolving credit line for 600 million pesos in 2021, for the supply and supply of steel, rod, plate and structural profiles in the construction of the refinery.

Based on the foregoing, it was concluded that Bancomext may have the requested information.

The INAI Plenary revoked Bancomext’s response and ordered it to carry out an exhaustive search, with broad and non-restrictive criteria, of the information in the administrative units of that agency.

karol.garcia@eleconomista.mx