Asuncion, IP Agency.– The Minister of Industry and Trade, Javier Giménez, stated that the decree issued by the Executive to regulate bunker fuel, intended for tugboats and which does not pay taxes, does not distort the conditions of competition of the companies that sell fuel in the domestic market.
Giménez said that the decree, issued by the Executive at the end of June, aims to order the sale of a very specific type of fuel, which is known as bunker fuel, which is used to load tugboats and represents 5% of the total volume of fuel.
He explained that by organizing the sector, the aim is to better control possible tax evasions that could be occurring within it.
“What was happening was that some importers were bringing in bunker fuel, without paying taxes, for loading tugboats, but in reality they were selling it to the domestic market, which constituted a situation of evasion,” he explained.
He pointed out that any tugboat could be located at any point on the river and load tanker trucks with a hose and that is why the decree establishes that bunker fuel imported into Paraguay will only be loaded in ports that have a certain tankage, as a way of controlling.
He explained that this decree originates from the National Directorate of Tax Revenue, which detected an inconsistency between the volume imported to load tugboats and the declaration of the liters loaded in them.
“The DNIT, in order to combat evasion, establishes that this fuel that does not pay taxes can be loaded in places that have the infrastructure conditions to do so and to better control it,” he said.
Giménez said that “this does not force anyone to invest in infrastructure, because there are very few players in the bunker business. There are four large companies,” he said.
In this regard, he acknowledged that he is concerned about the tone of the statements made by a leading brand in the sector in Paraguay, such as the Shell firm, whose representative warned that the decree seeks to provide exclusive conditions to the state oil company Petropar.
“We must separate the context of the recovery of Petropar and this measure in particular,” said Giménez, confirming that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has a responsibility and control over the conditions of competition so that they are normal and “so that the private sector acts in an orderly and calm manner.”
“MIC’s concern is that companies compete in a fair and legal environment, and that there are no distortions by the actors in this competitive mechanism,” said the minister.
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2024-07-22 23:43:01
