Bogota‘s mayor-elect Gustavo Petro alleged Monday that there had been irregularities in the massive buying and selling of shares by the Colombian capital’s energy company last week.
Petro said that he observed the behavior of the company’s shares every hour for two critical days at the beginning of last week.
“Early on Monday there was a large outflow of sales, and prices fell (…). On Tuesday at 12 noon, at the lowest point, a massive purchase was observed,” explained Petro.
The Bogota official added that he had been sued in the past for talking about public enterprises, but would still announce the name of the person who made the irregular purchase in the due course of judicial process.
Petro recommended that minority shareholders should “not sell because there is speculation in the market, and it is best to have patience.”
That speculation was caused by the mayor’s proposal to merge Bogota’s energy company, EEB, with the city’s telephone and water companies.
After that proposal, the share value of the EEB fell by 17%; however, Petro insisted that there was no need for economic panic, nor was it certain that $934 million had been lost.