Post by scumbuster on May 12, 2016 5:57:32 GMT -5
Venezuelans Running Out of Their Favorite Beer
CARACAS – Employees of Empresas Polar, the conglomerate that controls 80 percent of the Venezuelan beer market, are standing guard at the company’s four breweries to ward off a feared government takeover.
While Polar spars with the government of President Nicolas Maduro, bars and restaurants scramble to secure a supply of Venezuela’s favored brew, as production has been suspended since April 29.
Geovar Reyes, chief of operations at Polar’s Los Cortijos brewery in Caracas, said employees are on guard round-the-clock “to prevent (authorities) from entering and creating a disaster.”
The Maduro administration, which accuses Empresas Polar of engineering food shortages, has undertaken a nationwide audit of the firm, sending inspectors into 83 facilities.
The Ocumare plant, in central Venezuela, “was looted” in the audit process by officials who “damaged the equipment,” according to Reyes.
“They have taken batteries, they take computers. What are they doing with all that? What kind of audit is that?” he said, though acknowledging that the officials who visited Los Cortijos were cordial and “respectful.”
The audits have confirmed that Polar is not producing because of a lack of raw materials, Reyes told EFE.
“We have nothing left, we have nothing to produce with,” he said.
Labor Ministry Oswaldo Vera says the Venezuelan Central Bank has provided Polar with the hard currency the conglomerate requested to acquire materials, but that the company “has invested in other countries.”
The Maduro administration has threatened to take over companies that are not producing.
Reyes, however, said the government has failed to pay suppliers.
With production halted, some bars and liquor stores have turned to re-sellers to keep patrons happy, though some consumers have made the switch to another beer, Regional.
laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2411984&CategoryId=10717
CARACAS – Employees of Empresas Polar, the conglomerate that controls 80 percent of the Venezuelan beer market, are standing guard at the company’s four breweries to ward off a feared government takeover.
While Polar spars with the government of President Nicolas Maduro, bars and restaurants scramble to secure a supply of Venezuela’s favored brew, as production has been suspended since April 29.
Geovar Reyes, chief of operations at Polar’s Los Cortijos brewery in Caracas, said employees are on guard round-the-clock “to prevent (authorities) from entering and creating a disaster.”
The Maduro administration, which accuses Empresas Polar of engineering food shortages, has undertaken a nationwide audit of the firm, sending inspectors into 83 facilities.
The Ocumare plant, in central Venezuela, “was looted” in the audit process by officials who “damaged the equipment,” according to Reyes.
“They have taken batteries, they take computers. What are they doing with all that? What kind of audit is that?” he said, though acknowledging that the officials who visited Los Cortijos were cordial and “respectful.”
The audits have confirmed that Polar is not producing because of a lack of raw materials, Reyes told EFE.
“We have nothing left, we have nothing to produce with,” he said.
Labor Ministry Oswaldo Vera says the Venezuelan Central Bank has provided Polar with the hard currency the conglomerate requested to acquire materials, but that the company “has invested in other countries.”
The Maduro administration has threatened to take over companies that are not producing.
Reyes, however, said the government has failed to pay suppliers.
With production halted, some bars and liquor stores have turned to re-sellers to keep patrons happy, though some consumers have made the switch to another beer, Regional.
laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2411984&CategoryId=10717