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The National Economic Prosecutor’s Office (FNE) reported that Chinese companies, grouped in the Commission for the Administration and Supervision of State-owned Assets (Shashak) from that country, participate in all phases of the electricity business in Chile, and announced that it will open an investigation on the subject to determine possible infractions against free economic competition.
The alerts went off in the environment a couple of days ago, when the sale of the Spanish electricity company CGE to the Chinese state giant State Grid was announced, which will control the 51% of electricity distribution in Chile actively, taking into consideration that I already had control of Chilquinta.
Chinese companies now participate in electricity generation, through Pacific Hydro and two other hydroelectric plants; of the transmission of electricity, owning 27 percent of Transelec; and now from the electricity distribution, through CGE.
In this context, the economic prosecutor Ricardo Riesco exposed before Economic Commission of the Lower House and announced that investigate possible monopolistic actions, including the eventual exclusion of new competitors.
“We are not only going to review the direct participations that State Grid has as an activity in any of the three electricity sectors of our country, but also any other company of Chinese nationality that is controlled by Sasac“Riesco said.
The prosecutor added that it will be analyzed “if the operation substantially reduces or has the ability to substantially reduce competition in the markets; specifically if it has the ability to increase prices to consumers, if it has the potential to exclude competitors or from increase the risk of illicit coordination between competitors“.
Deputies will summon Minister Delgado
In Congress, meanwhile, the geopolitical variables that this phenomenon may bring are also worrying. Therefore, the Economy Commission agreed to quote the Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado (UDI), and to Defense, Mario Desbordes RN), so that they account for this situation.
The socialist deputy Jaime Naranjo stated that “clearly who is behind (the investments) is the Communist Party (Chinese) “.
“It seems to me of the greatest gravity what is happening, but it seems that some are indifferent to this economic penetration that the Chinese empire is doing… There we see the concentration that there is, “said Naranjo.
Also, the deputy Miguel Mellado (RN) assured that “these companies have to report to the Chinese Communist Party“, so it worries that”how naive we have as a country not to see this issue. “
“We are handing over to the Chinese state from electricity production to distribution and customer service“criticized Mellado.
