The binational hydroelectric plants Itaipú and Yacyretá (EBY) disburse US$155.8 million annually in salaries for their 3,558 employees, not including year-end bonuses. The monthly total amounts to US$12.98 million, with US$5.67 million paid by Itaipú and US$7.31 million by Yacyretá.
At Itaipú, 109 employees receive salaries higher than President Santiago Peña's G$37.9 million. Executive legal director Iris Magnolia Mendoza, wife of Senator Silvio Beto Ovelar, tops the list with G$156.5 million a month — four times the presidential salary — composed of a base salary of G$53.3 million and a bonus of G$103.2 million. Paraguayan general director Justo Lucho Zacarías Irún receives G$106.9 million, an amount that quintuples at year-end with bonuses, collective agreement payments, and vacation pay, in addition to accumulating a pension as a former deputy of G$32.8 million. Area directors such as Hugo Osvaldo Zárate Chávez (technical), Julio Rodrigo Paredes Duarte (executive coordination), Rafael Demetrio Lara Valenzuela (finance), and Justino Óscar Abrahan Caballero (executive administration) each earn G$103.2 million. Javier Giménez, head of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, and Félix Sosa, president of ANDE, receive G$82.5 million from Itaipú as board members, although their sworn declarations indicate G$119.4 million.
At Yacyretá, Paraguayan director Luis Benítez receives G$136 million a month. Board members Fernando Alberto Estanis Ayala González, Germán Alfredo Gneiting Dichtiar, Miguel María Olmedo Leites, Michel Patricio Flores Fernández, and Mario Martín Arévalo Fernández earn about G$113 million each. In March alone, EBY bonuses totaled G$4.3 billion (US$703,000), including G$54.3 million for Benítez, who with a base salary of G$71.9 million and travel allowances of G$10.8 million reached G$137 million.
Lawyers Cecilia Pérez, Federico Legal, and Ezequiel Santagada asked the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) to define the body responsible for imposing fines on institutions that do not disclose their payrolls. In response, the CGR submitted a draft bill to Congress to fill the legal gap that prevents collection. Pérez called the measure a “Solomonic solution” and criticized the Transparency and Anti-Corruption Law, saying it hindered existing regulations.