After terminating its contract with the Qatari firm Doha Holding Group LLC, which failed to deliver 100,000 metric tons of diesel fuel valued at over US$61 million, Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar) has fast-tracked new fuel purchases. The state-owned company, headed by William Wilka, launched a tender under the international electronic auction format for the purchase of up to 80,000 cubic meters of diesel, split into two lots, with an estimated value of US$98,015,240.
Bids were received on May 8 and are currently under evaluation. The companies Axion Energy Paraguay SRL, Vitol Energía Americas SA, and Trafigura Pte Ltd took part in the bidding process.
In parallel, Petropar once again resorted to a special, urgent procurement procedure to acquire up to an additional 40,000 cubic meters. The call for bids was published on May 8 and proposals were received on May 13, but the estimated price and the identity of the bidders remain unknown. This mechanism allows the state company to disclose documentation only after the contract is signed, a practice that, in recent cases, has resulted in long delays in data transparency.
Data from the National Directorate of Public Procurement (DNCP) indicates that, between February 2025 and January 2026, Petropar made six purchases under this special format, acquiring 368,500 cubic meters of fuel for an amount close to G. 1.8 trillion (over US$280 million). By contrast, between July and October of last year, only two purchases were made under the traditional system, which requires the publication of documents from the start of the process.
The special procurement process was established by DNCP Resolution No. 2198/2024, issued on August 13, 2024, at Petropar's request, one month before the award to Doha Holding. The document was signed by the then-acting head of the DNCP, Juan Emilio Oviedo Cabañas, on the same day the Qatari company responded to the first price-request email sent by the state firm. Although the resolution aims to take advantage of international price volatility, the contract with Doha Holding received ten extensions, distorting the procedure's purpose and contravening the Public Procurement Law.
The scheme also relaxed guarantee requirements, allowing sworn declarations to be submitted instead of insurance policies or bank guarantees. Doha Holding initially provided a declaration backed by an Arabic-language document from Qatar International Islamic Bank as a US$3,050,000 performance bond. Only on December 29, 2025, more than a year after the contract was signed, did it present an enforceable guarantee through Banco Continental. Following the formal termination on April 20, Petropar executed the bond on April 28.
In light of the breach, the DNCP opened an administrative proceeding against Doha Holding Group LLC. The measure was formalized on May 13 by director Agustín Encina. The proceeding also targets Mohammed Hussein Alquzweeni, Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani, Julio Ernesto Jiménez Granda, Saad Doukali, Jamal Bendaoui, and Nimr Abdalati, with the aim of investigating violations of Law No. 7021/22. Attorney Tessa Lima was appointed as the investigating judge for the proceeding.