MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Stipanicic resigns as president of Uruguay's Ancap

“It is healthy to be able to close cycles when they come to an end,” Stipanicic said

Alejandro Stipanicic's resignation Thursday as president of Uruguay's State-run oil company Ancap stirred up the political arena in Montevideo leading up to the transition towards the new government of President-elect Yamandú Orsi.

In a message on social media, Stipanicic thanked President Luis Lacalle Pou for the “high honor” and “trust” to appoint him in the first place. “I believe it is healthy to be able to close cycles when they come to an end and make way for the necessary renewals, especially after having left one's soul on the field, as Dr. Jorge Batlle taught us,” he wrote. He also expressed his gratitude to Ernesto Talvi, Diego Labat, Omar Paganini, and Álvaro Delgado for their support in difficult times.

“From wherever I am, I will continue to support the technical teams of the Colorado Party to contribute to the formulation of proposals, ideas, and solutions so that the Republican Coalition continues to promote changes in a Uruguay that has everything to be the most developed country in Latin America,” he further stated.

According to local media, Stipanicic's departure was due to ideological differences with Industry Minister Elisa Facio and the rest of Ancap's board regarding the company's role in HIF Global's green hydrogen project. Meanwhile, Facio said that the resignation was due to “personal” reasons.

Stipanicic had allegedly insisted that Ancap should keep its right to participate in up to 30% of the project, while the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining (MIEM) rejected the idea. President Lacalle Pou reportedly signed a resolution on Dec. 12 urging Ancap to drop those intentions. But Facio denied that this was the case and said that in the implementation agreement between HIF Global and Ancap to be signed on Dec. 27 there was already a clause mandating the state-owned company to participate. According to Stipanicic, the decision on whether Ancap would participate or not, and to what extent, was to be made in the second half of 2025 when HIF Global is to submit its final investment proposal.