SP strengthens agency to finance the oil sector
Valor Econômico
The government of São Paulo studies to become a development agency Nossa Caixa Development, in operation for one year, in an important branch for the expansion of oil and gas activity in the State. São Paulo´s Development Secretary, Luciano Almeida, said that to achieve this goal, the government intends to increase the capital of the agency from R$ 1 billion (US$ 588.2 million) to a level close to R$ 10 billion (US$ 5.9 billion), a measure that should be driven by the future tax collection of the State with the operation of the pre-salt.
According to Almeida, the agency should be strengthened in order to address other sectors. "The agency can be an important arm of the state. One of the ideas is to use part of the funds collected through the pre-salt exploration to increase its capital", he says. These resources, however, are still uncertain. A survey of the Institute of Technological Researches (IPT) shows that the annual income obtained by the State through royalties may vary, in a scenario until 2018, from R$ 66 million (US$ 38.8 million) - with the change in the regulatory mark being voted in the Congress - to R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 705.9 million), within the current legislation. Today, the state collects about R$ 4 million (US$ 2.4 million) a year in oil royalties. The agency's current capital - R$ 1 billion (US$ 588.2 million), with R$ 600 million (US$ 353 million) available - is more than adequate for the current demand. The agency was capitalized with funds from the sale of the bank Nossa Caixa. According to the most recent balance sheet of the institution, the disbursements reached R$ 200 million (US$ 117.7 million), of which R$ 130 million (US$ 76.5 million) are capital of the agency and R$ 70 million (US$ 41.2 million) are transfers of financings from the National Development Bank (BNDES).
A Nossa Caixa Development has credit lines targeted at small and medium business and began operating in the middle of last year. Even assisting the oil and gas sector, the focus on smaller companies must remain, according to the agency president, Milton Luiz de Melo Santos. For him, the demand is not higher because the institution is still little known in the market." Our challenge today is to make the agency known, and for that we are approaching the business entities", he says. The agency has agreements with industry representatives, as Abimaq from the machinery and equipment sector, and Sindipeças, from the automotive segment, which act as advisers and intermediators of the contact between the institution and entrepreneurs.
According to the Secretary of Development, the expansion of capital would allow to the development agency have a specific line for the oil and gas activity. He warns, however, that the growth of this market is still incipient. To attract new companies, the Secretary says that the most important is the approval of environmental studies in the areas of commercial interest in the coast of the State, today under public consultation. With it, the government expects to reduce by nearly 50% the time required for the preparation of the EIA-Rima (Environmental Impact Assessment/Environmental Impact Report) by the entrepreneur and for the permit to be granted by the environmental agency, in the case, the São Paulo State Environmental Company (Cetesb).