Panama auditor files suit to scrap CK Hutchison-controlled port contract

Panama's comptroller general, Anel Flores, said on Wednesday he had filed suit to the nation's supreme court against a contract to operate ports near the Panama Canal, held by a local firm controlled by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.

Flores said the two suits were to declare the unconstitutionality and to nullify the contract to operate the Balboa and Cristobal ports. The supreme court would still need to accept the request to hear the comptroller's complaint.

The suits stem from a months-long audit spearheaded by Flores, who has publicly complained that the contract did not serve the nation's interests.

Flores has not made the full audit public, but said on Wednesday that it had revealed "many irregularities."

The complaint could throw a wrench in a planned deal for a consortium involving Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte's family-run shipping company MSC and US investment firm BlackRock to buy out most of CK Hutchison's global port business, including the two ports.

CK Hutchison holds a 90 per cent stake in the local Panama Ports Company, which had a 25-year concession to operate the ports renewed in 2021.

The sale has faced pressure from both Washington and Beijing, with Reuters reporting that Chinese state-run shipping giant COSCO could also be brought into the deal

"They are talking about billion-dollar deals here, which do not include Panama, the true owner of the Panamanian ports," Flores said. "That is why we have taken the actions we are taking, because we are not satisfied."

(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Brendan O'Boyle)