Puertos del Estado leaves its general secretary vacant after the dismissal of Sánchez Manzanares due to the 'Koldo case'

The Governing Council of State Ports, a company dependent on the Ministry of Transport, has carried out during a meeting this Wednesday the dismissal of the already former secretary general of State Ports, Álvaro Sánchez Manzanares.

At the moment there is no new State lawyer to occupy this strategic position in the organizational chart of this public body, so the position has remained vacant.

That of Sánchez Manzanares has been the first head to roll around the Ministry of Transport, as EL PAÍS reported yesterday, due to the loss of confidence of Minister Óscar Puente after the

Koldo case came to light

,

in which the Court Nacional is investigating the alleged collection of illegal commissions on the purchase of masks during the worst of the pandemic and in which Koldo García, advisor to the former Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, is involved.

Ports has reported through a statement that “all the documentation and information” that the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) has requested from them regarding a contract for the purchase of masks processed in 2020 has been provided and they emphasize that it was not has produced “any imputation” of the people who participated in the processing of the contract.

The dismissed general secretary was in charge of purchasing eight million masks for 20 million euros from Management Solutions, the company recommended by Koldo García, Ábalos's most trusted person.

This contract was awarded on March 21, 2020 by virtue of a Ministerial Order that tasked State Ports and Adif with the acquisition of medical supplies and their distribution at the beginning of the pandemic and without the usual controls established by the Contract Law of the Public Sector, through the emergency route provided for in Royal Decree-Law 7/2020.

Different sources explain that Óscar Puente has acted urgently in view of the fact that Sánchez Manzanares' position had to be ratified this Wednesday morning by the Governing Council, according to sources familiar with the initial agenda.

In its statement, Puertos recalls that the contracts for the purchase of medical supplies, including the one signed with Management Solutions, "were audited by both the General State Intervention and the Court of Accounts."

However, the public body announces that it will continue to collaborate as much as possible "with all public authorities in charge of carrying out control and audit work."

In the area of ​​Puertos del Estado this morning, the most viable technical option for the replacement was that of the director of the Legal Department of the house, José Antonio Morillo-Velarde.

The same sources explain that the figure of the general secretary has a strong weight in the day-to-day management of State Ports, which is why they questioned whether Minister Óscar Puente would opt for an external figure.

The dismissed Sánchez Manzanares joined Puertos del Estado in 2009. His first position was that of director of Institutional Relations and Technological Innovation, also acting as a member of the boards of directors of the Port Authorities of Coruña, Bilbao and Motril.

In 2012, she became the head of the Legal Advisory Department in State Ports, and from that position she was promoted to the position of Secretary General, in which she was retained by the current president of the entity, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena when he took office in December 2021. In fact, the management team of Puertos del Estado has remained practically intact despite the passage of different presidents during Pedro Sánchez's time in the Government, with Ornella Chacón, Salvador de la Encina, Francisco Toledo and the current president, Rodríguez. It's pitiful.

The Governing Council meeting this morning is headed by the president of State Ports;

the director of the Legal Department, José Antonio Morillo-Velarde, who serves as secretary.

The figure of the director of Customs and Special Taxes of the State Tax Administration Agency, Pilar Jurado, stands out, and there are various senior officials from the Ministries of Transport, Presidency and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Rafael Domínguez Olivera, State Attorney-Head of the Ministry of Transportation led by Óscar Puente, acts as the Council's sole advisor.

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