Former head of the Port of Gijón stands out from the irregularities in the expansion: "I did not start the project"

He defends that the project for the works of El Musel was approved upon his arrival in office and that he only got on "the bandwagon"

MADRID, 16 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The former president of the Port Authority of Gijón Fernando Menéndez Rexach has distanced himself this Monday in the trial held in the National Court of the alleged irregularities committed in the award of the contract for the works of the port of El Musel, in Gijón, ensuring that he did not "launch the project", but it was already approved when he arrived at the agency.

Menéndez thus responded to the questions from the Prosecutor's Office during the first session of the oral hearing, which focuses on the expansion works of the port of El Musel and, specifically, on the award in 2004 of the public works contract for an initial amount of 580 million euros. It was a project that, in addition, was financed by the cohesion funds of the European Union, an aid that amounted to 247.5 million euros.

This procedure also focuses on the extra costs that were finally incurred with respect to the initial project. The approval in 2007 of the modified expansion of the port set the final amount at more than 830 million euros, contemplating an increase of 250 million euros in investment.

For these facts, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking a three-year prison sentence for Menéndez as the author of a crime of fraud and 25 years of disqualification for crimes of prevarication. The former head of the Gijón port authority, on his part, has denied any irregularity when asked if he recognizes himself as the perpetrator of the aforementioned crimes.

"I do not start the project, I get on a project that is underway. I understand that if it is approved with the go-ahead it means that it has all the go-ahead to be able to develop," Menéndez defended in his statement.

In this regard, the anti-corruption prosecutor Miguel Serrano has reminded him that, from his position, he also had the option of "not getting on that train." "The draft that has all the designs of the construction project was defined unanimously by the council in February, and I arrived in May," Menéndez replied.

In this sense, the person who was responsible for the Port Authority of the Asturian city has insisted that "the council's agreement was clear". "And the president is one more. I get on a car that is that solution," he added.

Menéndez has referred to the situation that was found upon arrival at the institution. "When I arrived there was a council decision on the project. There was an approach from the Ministry of Public Works and the Port Authority, which was a major expansion," he recounted, explaining that the former was chosen as it involved a lower "environmental impact".

The ex-responsible has recognized, to questions from the Public Ministry, that the option of the project proposed by Fomento was the only one that opened the door to obtaining greater financing. "The Port Authority by itself cannot do any processing. I understand that the Ministry did not process the request for funds from any other project, only with that one," he added.

In this context, Menéndez has recognized that if this project had not been chosen, it would have been difficult to obtain financing from European funds. "Impossible is difficult to say, but it is clear that in the financial period from 2000 to 2006 Asturias was objective 1 and had the option of all funds, and in the following period the aid was at a lower percentage. It could have had that aid but possibly in worse conditions, with fewer percentages", he stated.

Thus, he has insisted that it would have been "very difficult" for the Gijón Port Authority to have been able to undertake the expansion of El Musel without financing from the European Union's own funds. "This volume of investment could not be faced by itself. The funds of the Port Authority were a small volume in comparison", he added.

The turn of declaration of the 21 defendants who sit on the bench has started this Monday with Luis Sánchez del Río, who has asked to appear first in order to be absent from the oral hearing.

Del Río, for whom the Prosecutor's Office is requesting two years in prison as a necessary collaborator in a crime of fraud, has denied being the author of the facts that the Public Ministry accuses him of. In addition, he has decided to answer only two questions from his defense, acknowledging that he was a member of the Management Committee of the UTE, involved in the expansion of the port.

This first session of the trial has also left the suspension by the court of the oral hearing for one of the defendants: José María Piñól. The president of the court itself, magistrate Francisco José Vieira Morante, has agreed to what was requested by his lawyer and has agreed that he be tried in a later piece.

The oral hearing will resume this Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. with the continuation of the interrogation of Menéndez by the Public Prosecutor's Office.