PETROPERÚ clarifies that it is up to the comptroller general of the republic to select a new audit company

In the face of uninformed journalistic versions about the late withdrawal (February 2022) of the auditing company Gaveglio, Aparicio y Asociados Civil Society of Limited Liability - Price Waterhouse Coopers to the signing of the contract to audit its Financial Statements corresponding to the year 2021, PETROPERÚ addresses public opinion to inform the following:

1. By law, it is solely and exclusively the responsibility of the Comptroller General of the Republic to call a public tender and select the financial auditing services for PETROPERÚ, using the bases prepared by the Company with the approval of its General Shareholders' Meeting. That contest for the 2021 exercise was deserted after being summoned abnormally late on November 30, 2021. The bases for it had been delivered on July 1.
2. The incomprehensible and anomalous delay of five months in the call, with the consequent absence of bidders, has been causing serious damage to the Company, including the reduction of its international risk rating and the deterioration in the international price of its bonds.
3. The unilateral decision of the aforementioned auditing firm occurred on February 28, 2022 after having presented its proposal on January 5 and its contract model on February 2 and after, on February 14, one of its partners was disavowed by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic in its attempt to include in the contract certain conditions that went beyond the objective of the audit and the examination of accounting information officially established by the Office of the Comptroller.
4. PETROPERÚ has made numerous efforts to adapt to the requirements of the aforementioned auditing company in order to be able to meet the deadlines established in the contracts with its bondholders and banks for the publication of its audited Financial Statements.
5. PETROPERÚ regrets the inopportune decision taken arbitrarily by the local representation of the prestigious international firm, particularly because it was taken after learning of the Company's interest in a possible transaction in the global capital market in the second half of 2022 and using as justification the request made by the Corporate Finance Department to change the delivery date of the reports from June 30 to May 31; this is in line with the reporting obligations established in the contracts with the bondholders for USD 3 billion and with the banks of the syndicated loan guaranteed by the Spanish government for USD 1.3 billion.
6. PETROPERÚ has already submitted a request to the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic for the appointment of another auditing firm and is in talks with the aforementioned entity regarding the need to adapt the bases of the new contest to the times and costs associated with the auditing procedures. audit that any new firm would have to conduct as a result of all the problems that occurred between the months of December 2021 and March 2022 and that have been the subject of extensive and uninformed reports.
7. PETROPERÚ points out that the delay in the closing financial audit of 2021 does not respond to any action of the current administration of the Company and reiterates that the selection and retention of the Petroperú auditor is in charge by law of the Comptroller General of the Republic.
8. PETROPERÚ hopes that the aforementioned controlling entity pays attention to its requests to adapt the bases, especially in terms of time and cost, so that the next contest is not declared void again. That would do even more damage to its already unfairly tarnished image as an issuer in international capital markets.