Government expects three consortia to take part in bullet train bid
Valor Econômico
The Government expects that at least three consortia hand in their proposals for the bullet train on Monday, 29. Despite the pressure of the entrepreneurs of the sector to postpone the bidding date, the Government decided to stick to the agenda. On the entrance of the pension funds in the project, Bernardo Figueiredo, President of the Terrestrial Transportation National Agency (ANTT), believes the agreement with the winning consortium should only take place after the holding of the bidding. The pension funds Previ, Petros and Funcef - owned by the employees of Banco do Brasil, Petrobras and Caixa Econômica Federal (the Federal Savings Banks), respectively - should enter with 20% of the project, and they would initially disburse R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 882.4 million). The rest of the capital will come by means of loans of the BNDES (National Development Bank), which shall be paid in the long-term by the shareholders of the bullet train.
According to sources involved in the negotiations, Previ, Petros and Funcef will hit the hammer on the model of participation in the project of the bullet train at the end of this week or early next week. The prevailing trend among the foundations is that they enter the deal after the bidding, by means of the Invepar, a holding which they are shareholders together with the contractor OAS.
Sources affirm the path taken by the funds to participate in the investment of the bullet train "do not resort to any political orientation or governmental desire". The understanding among the three funds to set their presence in the deal involves only technical issues on the best way to get into the undertaking, reaffirmed the sources. Previ, Petros and Funcef intend to agree with the winning consortium upon the minimum conditions for the participation of Invepar in the corporate governance of the bullet train, that is, the presence in the Board of Directors of the undertaking, the Board of Auditors and supervisory bodies
On the side of the consortia, the pressure to postpone the date continues strong. The Brazilian Association of the Railway Industry (Abifer) and the Interstate Union of the Railway and Road Materials and Equipment Industry (Simefre) will deliver a letter today to the Government asking for the postponement of the bidding for a period of six months. According to them, the impasse caused by election period - with candidates of opposing views on the bullet train - and the recent detailing by the BNDES on the loans are sufficient arguments to change the bidding date.