MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Kirchner sacks two officials linked to corruption probe

President Nestor Kirchner fired this week two government officials linked to a court investigation into suspected public works corruption involving the construction of a gas pipeline by the Swedish construction company Skanska.

Kirchner dismissed Fulvio Madaro, president of the natural gas regulatory group ENARGAS, and Nestor Alberto Ulloa, an official with the state-run bank Banco Nacion, Cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez said. Court officials in Buenos Aires said they are investigating a local unit of the Swedish company Skanska for suspected irregularities in a 2005 project to expand a northern gas pipeline. Skanska last July announced that it fired employees at the Argentine unit after an internal probe detected "irregular payments." Two weeks ago, Argentine authorities carried out a court order to detain seven former employees of the unit and searched its offices for documents. Fernandez did not provide further details on Madaro or Ulloa, who have been summoned to discuss their handling of the case. Magistrate Guillermo Montenegro who has the case also summoned for questioning several former board members of Skanska under suspicion of having paid bribes to win the contract for the expansion of the gas pipelines in the north of Argentina. Energas, under Madaro was responsible for supervising the awarding of the contracts and Ulloa manager of the trust created by several private companies to finance the expansion of the gas pipelines. "We've repeatedly and publicly stated that in the case of the Skanska investigation, if the name of any official allegedly involved crops up, he wouldn't last a minute in his post", added Fernandez. However until a week ago the official stance of the Kirchner administration was that the Skanska affair "was a deal involving only private sector interests". Apparently the "decisive evidence" was a tape in possession of the prosecution which directly links Madaro and Ulloa with the corruption scandal. Argentina with a booming economy and a growing energy shortage, particularly natural gas, has been investing heavily and at great pace in energy infrastructure to cope with increased demand, in spite of the fact the government refuses to admit there's a crisis in the sector. The corruption scandal poses a headache for Kirchner, who since taking office in 2003 has permanently preached against corruption and next October faces presidential and congressional elections.