Last week, I was asked to quantify the size of the loot in PDVSA during an interview. This site has been processing some figures in that regard. No matter the approach, the reign of Rafael Ramírez appears very grim. This may be because Ramírez served as both Minister of Energy and General Manager of PDVSA simultaneously for most of that period. In other words, Minister Ramírez was responsible for keeping the CEO of PDVSA, Ramírez, in check—a completely unfeasible situation.
PDVSA’s oil sales between 2001 and 2016 amounted to $1.305 trillion, with a net profit of $93.1 billion (7%), while expenses—described in the audited financial statements as social contributions—totaled $129 billion (~10%). Ramírez has officially stated that during his tenure at PDVSA, transfers to the state exceeded $480 billion (“While I was at the helm of Petróleos de Venezuela, our company was able to capture and deliver to the State more than $480 billion.”) This accounts for approximately 37% of total oil sales revenue.
Highlighted in the pdf* below are oil sales, transfers for social programs (expressed as “contributions for social development / donations and contributions to FONDEN”), and net profit. It’s important to note that while receiving $1.3 trillion, Ramírez and his team further indebted Venezuela and PDVSA by another sum, how much? $180 billion? $1.305 trillion + $180 billion = $1.485 trillion. That’s 14 Marshall plans; more than three TARP.
Can anyone reasonably doubt that this is THE largest corruption scandal the world has ever heard of?
Perhaps financial experts could get a chance to untangle total revenues, costs, and profits. All data comes from PDVSA’s finances. In any case, how many states owning oil conglomerates the size of PDVSA, which had earned such revenues, find themselves in the misery of Venezuela?
Ramírez was dismissed from his diplomatic position at the UN in December 2017, although the structure he established at PDVSA lingered long after his departure in 2014. Ramírez is directly involved in mega-corruption scandals in the U.S., Andorra, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.