Solidarity Fund calls for bids on distribution contract

Ecuador's Solidarity Fund, the government holding company for state-owned companies, published on Saturday an international invitation to bid on a single three-year contract to manage 13 of the country's state-owned distributors, local newspaper El Comercio reported. Bid rules will be available November 4-11 at a price of US$5,000, and companies will have until December 12 to submit bids. A committee created by the Solidarity Fund will study the bids and open economic offers by December 30, awarding the final contract January 4-5. Fourteen distributors were originally supposed to be included in the tender, but Empresa Electrica Ambato pulled out. However, Empresa Electric Quito (EEQ), which is not currently participating in the tender, is studying joining the process, El Comercio reported. The aim of the tender is to improve the efficiency of the distributors to reduce their losses, manage their debts and improve their billing processes. Ecuador's government has tried various times in the past to privatize the country's distributors, but has not been successful due to opposition from electricity workers' associations. The fund is managing the bidding process in coordination with the mines and energy ministry, and Canadian consulting company Framework helped prepare the bidding rules.