After today's surprise announcement by the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Public Works concerning alleged environmental violations in our Company's activity on Milos and the enforcement of a fine, we wish to state the following:
The Ministry, without prior notification of the Company about its decision, chose to publicize it through the media. As we have substantiated at length in our answer to the Environmental Auditors:
- The Company holds all relevant permits with regard to the management of waste generated from its facilities in Milos. These permits have been issued after the approval of Environmental Impact Assessment and Technical Studies, for which all prior necessary expert opinions from the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Public Works and other competent Ministries were obtained.
- The Company operates in accordance with, and without divergence from, the terms dictated by those permits. This fact is evidenced by the periodic audits carried out by the responsible authorities, which have never, over the years, dictated a different way of managing our wastes. After review of the Ministry's decision -once it is communicated to us- the Company will submit the appropriate recourse before the competent Administrative Courts with the purpose of annulment, due to lack of legal basis, and the withdrawal of the enforced fine.