The municipality of Cinco Saltos did not provide details about the multimillion-dollar debt that the OPS company has been claiming for years and was tight-lipped about giving information that is public. It is about a contract for machinery that the municipality made in the management of Germán Epul between 2015 and 2019 and that was not paid.
The former municipal leader Liliana Alvarado, who managed the Executive Branch between 2019 and 2023, did not reach an agreement with the company and the liability was transferred to the current administration of Enrique Rossi. Despite DIARIO RÍO NEGRO’s persistent queries, the local leader did not give details about what he will do with that debt.
A few days ago, Bariloche Mayor Walter Cortés announced that he will file a lawsuit against his predecessor Gustavo Gennuso for a debt of similar characteristics, although much larger, that he contracted with the company during his term.
lThe company based in Cipolletti demanded that Alvarado pay 1.4 million dollars for the rental of different machines, These included a motor grader and a backhoe. They were used for various tasks in the Public Services area, especially for street maintenance.
When the Peronist took charge of the municipality in 2019, there was practically no machinery of the municipality. The company decided to seize its equipment, which caused many setbacks for the municipality that was just in 2021 managed to acquire a backhoe with financing from the Nation.
The former mayor stated that the payment of the debt was not agreed with the company.They expect payment to be made in dollars, and the municipality does not pay its debts in foreign currency,” he noted late last year.
At the beginning of 2023, it emerged that the company, after filing for bankruptcy, also filed a claim against the municipality of Bariloche for 4 billion pesos. Also for the rental of road machinery and trucks since 2019. In a report sent to the Council, the Executive admitted that the debt to the OPS company could reach $8,227,000.
For this hiring, Cortés announced that he will go to court after the Comptroller’s report that detected “irregularities” in the hiring process.
