The CEO of Colombia's state oil company takes a leave of absence amid an investigation into influence peddling

Ecopetrol, the Colombian state energy company, announced on Monday that it had granted CEO Ricardo Roa a 'longer holiday and an unpaid leave of absence'. This was in response to an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Office into allegations of influence peddling.

Ecopetrol said in a press release that its board has granted Roa a vacation from April 7 to May 27 and a 30-day leave of absence starting May 28.

Ecopetrol's?head? is expected to resume his duties by the end of June after?the conclusion? of Colombia's presidential election. In August, the new president of Colombia will take office and likely appoint a new Ecopetrol Board.

On March 11, the Attorney General's?office charged?Roa for his alleged participation in an influence peddling scheme.

According to prosecutors Roa allegedly pressed the head of Ecopetrol's subsidiary Hocol into awarding a regasification contract to Gaxi ESP. This company is owned by Juan Guillermo Mancera who sold Roa a?apartment for a price that was below market value.

The National Electoral Council of the country is investigating him for alleged violations in campaign finance limits that occurred during the?campaign Roa?managed to bring current President Gustavo Petro into power in 2022.

Roa has denied all wrongdoing. The charges are meant to 'link Roa with the criminal proceedings, but they do not mean that he is guilty or convicted.

Ecopetrol's Board appointed Juan 'Carlos Hurtado Parra to the position of acting president while Roa was away. Hurtado is the executive vice president for hydrocarbons at Ecopetrol since November 2025. (Reporting and editing by Christopher Cushing, Christian Schmollinger and Luis Jaime Acosta)

(source: Reuters)