Environment and Energy delegates legal representation before the IESS and the SRI

The Ministry of Environment and Energy delegated the legal representation of the state portfolio before the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) and the Internal Revenue Service (SRI) to Eng. Adriana Morejón Espinosa. The decision is contained in Ministerial Agreement No. MAE-MAE-2026-0086-AM, signed on September 16, 2026, by Minister Juan Carlos Damián Blum Baquero and published in Official Registry No. 383 on Monday, October 5, 2026.

The agreement is based on Article 69 of the Organic Administrative Code, which empowers administrative bodies to delegate the exercise of their competencies, and Article 55 of the Statute of the Legal and Administrative Regime of the Executive Branch, which mandates the publication of all delegations in the Official Registry. The appointment falls to the person who already serves as the General Treasurer of the ministry, meaning that the signature before the treasury and social security remains in the hands of the person responsible for institutional accounts.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy is the result of a chain of administrative mergers. Executive Decree No. 399 of May 15, 2018, absorbed the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, the Ministry of Mining, and the Secretariat of Hydrocarbons; Executive Decree No. 400 of April 14, 2022, renamed the portfolio as the Ministry of Energy and Mines; and Decrees No. 60 of July 24, 2025, and No. 94 of August 14, 2025, merged the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition into that portfolio, which became known as the Ministry of Environment and Energy. Executive Decree No. 376 of May 7, 2026, appointed Blum Baquero to lead the office.

What the agreement establishes

• Article 1: delegates to Eng. Adriana Morejón Espinosa the legal representation of the ministry before the IESS and the SRI, to act in the name and on behalf of the state portfolio.
• Article 2: the delegate shall inform the minister about the activities carried out and the resolutions adopted by virtue of the delegation.
• Article 3: the agreement is effective from its signing, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Registry.
• First general provision: the acts issued must comply with the current legal framework.
• Second general provision: execution is the responsibility of the General Administrative Financial Coordination.
• Final provisions: the General Secretariat processes the publication and the Social Communication Directorate disseminates the agreement on the institutional website.

A delegation that is updated

Eng. Adriana Beatriz Morejón Espinosa had already been designated as the legal representative before the SRI and the IESS through Ministerial Agreement No. MERNNR-MERNNR-2020-0022-AM dated May 7, 2020, when the office was known as the Ministry of Energy and Non-Renewable Natural Resources. The new instrument updates that designation following successive changes to the ministry’s name and structure.

The file was activated by an internal request: memorandum No. MAE-COGEAF-2026-1105-ME dated August 28, 2026, requested the update of the accreditation as a priority and urgent matter, in accordance with the deadline set by the SRI. Attached to that memorandum was the justification dated August 26, 2026, which recommended considering Morejón’s permanence based on criteria of administrative continuity, experience, and knowledge of institutional procedures.

Legal Support and Procedure

The Legal Viability Report for the Delegation of Competencies dated September 2, 2026, prepared by the Directorate of Legal Sponsorship and Coactive Collections, concluded that the minister has the regulatory authority to delegate the competence in favor of the General Treasurer. The General Secretary, Mgs. Luis Carlos Artieda Carrera, certified on September 21, 2026, that the agreement is a true copy of the electronically signed original and consists of three pages.

With this delegation, the ministry defines who is responsible before the IESS and the SRI for the portfolio’s employer and tax obligations, and prevents institutional procedures from stalling due to a lack of current accreditation. For the sector’s employees and providers, the change establishes a single interlocutor before two entities that condition payrolls, payments, and public procurement.

Source: Official Registry No. 383, Monday, October 5, 2026, Executive Branch, pág. 2 (official reference: Agreement No. MAE-MAE-2026-0086-AM).