Bolivian state-run company Empresa Siderurgica del Mutun (ESM), which is currently developing a steelmaking and iron ore complex, has named a new CEO following the resignation of the company’s former top executive.
As a result, the minister of mining, Ramiro Guzman, appointed Jorge Alvarado Rivas as the company’s new interim CEO. Rivas is challenged with completing works at ESM’s iron ore and steelmaking complex by 2023.
According to a letter obtained by SteelOrbis, the former CEO of ESM, Gustavo Choque Velasquez, sent a resignation letter to the nation’s president, Luis Arce, on July 8. Velasquez said he was falsely accused of corruption, although he did not specifically name or address the corruption claims.
“I cannot allow that such lies damage neither the brilliant management of (the Bolivian) government overseen by your authority, nor the excellent management of the Mr. minister of mining, the reason by which I present my irrevocable resignation to the role of executive president of Mutun,” Velasquez said in a letter.
Velasquez said the corruption charges were politically motivated and fabricated. Velasquez had also been appointed as an interim CEO of ESM earlier this year, as reported by SteelOrbis.