After Less Than A Year, Blanca Liliana Ruiz Out & Javier Lastra Fuscaldo In As Head Of EPM’s Afinia

Last November, EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) veteran Blanca Liliana Ruiz Arroyave was appointed general manager of Afinia, the Caribbean utility recently acquired by EPM from liquidation, after she had spent 24 years with EPM in various roles including Director of Energy Regulation and Executive Vice President of Business Management. After less than a year on the job, Ruiz has already been replaced. EPM says Ruiz will be returning to a post within the parent company.

EPM’s management has been a constantly revolving door since Medellín’s Mayor Daniel Quintero took office, the utility seeing 4 CEOs in less than two years, resignation of the board of directors, and further intrigue. Now that instability appears to be affecting Afinia.

Replacing Ruiz is administrative law attorney Javier Lastra Fuscaldo (above), who recently has been working as an advisor to Bogotá’s Public Services Administrative Unit, according to EPM.

Colombian business journal Valora Analitik reports that once again, the personnel move is due to clashes with Medellin’s Mayor Quintero. “This rupture occurred mainly because management by the executive did not meet the express orders of the [mayor] of Medellin; which is why they had been talking about a possible change of functions in Afinia,” said a source.