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10/30/2008 14h24

Highways auctions involves US$ 5.2 billion

Valor Econômico - 10/30/2008

The result of yesterday's concession auction of five lots of São Paulo highways, which totaled R$ 11.5 billion (US$ 5.2 billion) among grants and investments, will make the government of São Paulo accelerate the plans to the end of the road ring that surrounds the capital. After getting discounts that varied among 6% and 54.9%, in the middle of the world financial crisis, the State Government intends to bid the East part of the road ring until the end of next year's first semester. The two biggest winners of yesterday's auction, Odebrecht and Triunfo Participações e Investimentos (TPS), already declared interest in participating in the East and North stretches. According to Mauro Arce, State Secretary of Transports, the aim is to end the works until the end of 2013. "We believe that it can be concluded six months before the 2014 FIFA Soccer World CupTM", declared Arce. According to the Secretary, the East part will be budgeted between R$ 2 billion (US$ 909.1 million) and R$ 3 billion (US$ 1.4 billion). As for the North stretch, whose route goes through the Cantareira Ridge, a region rich in phreatic sheets, it would be bid until the beginning of 2012. The Governor of the State, José Serra (PSDB), made a speech after the auction and mentioned the delicate world economic situation. "These concessions were made in a moment of crisis and demonstrate that São Paulo, in terms of relations with the private sector, behaves responsibly", he affirmed. Another point emphasized by Serra was the inclusion of the rural roads in the highway lots, which amount to one thousand kilometers. The winners of the auctioned lots, on their turn, were unanimous pointing out the difficulty to obtain financing to take part in the competition. From the total obtained in the auctions, R$ 8 billion (US$ 3.6 billion) will be invested by the concessionaries. The remaining R$ 3.5 billion (US$ 1.6 billion) refer to the payment of the grants to the government of São Paulo.