The plant is owned by Grupo ACS and is in the focus of Justice for alleged irregularities in the collection of the concession contract
The former leader of the PP and Vox Alejo Vidal-Quadras surprised those attending the ACS shareholders’ meeting on Friday by taking the floor to show his interest in the acquisition of the Escombreras desalination plant. According to the newspaper ‘Expansión’, Vidal-Quadras directly questioned Florentino Pérez, president of ACS: «I am writing to you to tell me who I should talk to about ACS, because I am interested in buying the company Hydro Management ( Escombreras desalination plant), which I believe forms part of the group’s investments”.
The intervention of Vidal-Quadras, as a shareholder, drew attention for being unusual, and because the desalination plant is in the focus of Justice for alleged irregularities in the collection of the concession contract, recalls ‘Expansión’. Hydro Management owns 80% of the shares of the desalination plant, which must become the property of the Community within twelve years, upon expiration of the 25-year term provided for in the contract.
a ruinous project
Escombreras has turned out to be a ruinous project for the Community, which has had to disburse more than 200 million euros under the agreements with Hydro Management. In the accounts of the Community for 2022, 27.4 million euros are included for the lease and maintenance of the plant. Likewise, another 5 million euros will be earmarked for investments in said desalination plant by the regional sanitation and purification entity (Esamur). For the sale of water there is an income forecast of 11 million euros, although the desalination plant has been totally paralyzed for months. These costs include rent payments to the ACS Group, owner of the facilities, and production costs.
“I am interested in the plant,” he assured during the shareholders’ meeting of ACS, which is the current owner
The plant belongs to the ACS Group, but the management is in charge of the Regional Entity for Sanitation and Purification (Esamur), dependent on the Community. Now, the regional government wants the controversial desalination plant to remain under the umbrella of the State so that it can be incorporated in the network of desalination plants of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition.
But the desalination plant has aroused the interest of former PP leader Alejo Vidal Quadras, who broke with this formation to found Vox, a party for which he was a candidate in the 2014 European elections. He later broke with the current leader, Santiago Abascal.
#leader #Vox #Vidal #Quadras #buy #Escombreras #desalination #plant