Asuncion, IP Agency.- The National Electricity Administration (ANDE) issued a statement clarifying that the update of rates for the cryptocurrency mining sector is supported by law and is based on technical criteria, in addition to avoiding a subsidy to the special intensive consumption group by all state-owned users.
The statement indicates that the update of the electricity rates corresponding to the Special Intensive Consumption Group (Cryptomining) is covered by Law No. 966/64 “ANDE Organic Charter” and by Executive Decree No. 7824/2022 dated September 16, 2022, which authorized ANDE to set the rate and establish temporary special conditions for this segment of users.
In this context, taking into account the recent increase in the cost of purchasing power from Itaipú Binacional, the rates for this consumer group have been updated, a circumstance provided for in all current contracts.
This rate update (from 9% to 16%) responds to a technical rate, thus avoiding the subsidy of all Paraguayans to users who carry out crypto mining activities.
Likewise, in relation to the statements made by National Senator Salim Buzarquis, accusing “the senior executives of ANDE who, with the complicity of their officials, invoice an average of 500,000 dollars in bribes for theft of energy from the Paraguayan people with illegal cryptocurrencies” (sic), ANDE rejects such statements and clarifies that this administration has been characterized by installing a frontal combat in the persecution of this type of punishable acts, especially once morest facilities that carry out cryptomining activities illegally.
«Irrefutable proof of the above is the existence of 71 criminal cases opened for theft of electrical energy throughout the national territory, originating from complaints filed by ANDE before the Public Prosecutor’s Office, proceedings in which more than 9,410 data processors, 24 transformers and conductors of various types used for the illegal obtaining of electrical energy have been seized. In these cases, ANDE contributes with all the requests made by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the clarification of the facts and the punishment of those responsible for the commission of the illicit act, regardless of who they are,» says the institution.
He also added that the Executive Branch, at the request of ANDE, has promoted the modification of Article 173 of the Paraguayan Penal Code, in order to criminalize the theft of electrical energy by increasing the prison sentence to 10 years, a project that to date has been partially approved by the Honorable Chamber of Senators.
“These actions completely refute the assertions made by the aforementioned parliamentarian and demonstrate the firm institutional decision to decisively combat this scourge that causes serious financial damage to the Institution and considerably affects the quality and reliability of the service provided to citizens,” the statement concludes.
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2024-07-06 09:29:14
