Under discussion in the Salvadoran Congress is the application of equal fiscal controls and management for private companies and those made up of mixed capital.
Public-private companies should be subject to the same controls and audits as those consisting of 100% private capital, because lack of transparency in controls of some of them and excess controls in others affects competitiveness and economic development.
The company was fined $759,924 for failing to petition the Salvadorian Superintendency of Competition to approve to purchase of nine service stations.
In addition to the financial penalty, the Superintendencia de Competencia (SC) demanded that the company submit within 30 days an application to follow the procedure which should have been done in the beginning.
The superintendency of competition has began the investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices by Alba Petroleos.
"After analyzing the formal request by the National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP) (February 5), the Superintendence of Competition has launched an official investigation (February 13, 2013), with the intention of determining whether Alba Petroleum had or had not violated the Competition Act through merging its businesses," noted an article in Elsalvador.com.
The Superintendency of Competition in El Salvador has not yet ruled on the complaints raised by the National Association of Private Enterprise for alleged anticompetitive practices.
Five months after the National Association of Private Enterprise (ANEP by its initials in Spanish) requested an investigation, it is "still awaiting a response from the Superintendency of Competition and is urging the Government of the Republic to enforce the law on equal terms and force the fulfilment of requirements under which ALBA businesses operate in El Salvador", published Elsalvador.com.