Transnordestina will receive US$ 188 million

The Superintendencia de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (Sudene) approved the release of US$ 188 million in debentures for the Nova Transnordestina Railway. This is the first portion from a 17-series of payment totalizing US$ 1.50 billion, approved on the company’s shareholders meeting held on February 26th.

According to Claudio Frota, director of Sudene and responsible for the works, the other liberations will follow the accomplishment of the enterprise schedule. The total cost of the railway is US$ 3 billion. The works must finish in 2012, as the delay recognized on the last balance sheet in the Growing Acceleration Program (GAP).

As Frota explained, these resources used by Sudene will be destined for the new suppliers of Transnordestina. For the use of these resources, it lacks only the company indicates which supplier would receive them. CSN, which leads the contractor consortium, sub-hired Odebrecht to execute a part of the work.

The liberation from the Fundo de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (FDNE), connected to Sudene, was authorized because the company could prove physically and financially that has accomplished more than 10% of the works on the “Y” tracing between Trindade, Suape (Pernambuco) and Missão Velha, all connected to the city of Salgueiro, also in Pernambuco. The tracing, one of the three that the work divides, is the heart of the new railway.

When FDNE brings resources to Nova Transnordestina, it acquires debentures that can be converted in a 50% portion of shares of the consortium. The cost of the resources, for the group, is a TJLD plus 1% a year.

On Wednesday 3th occurred the second of the monthly meetings made by president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva after checking that the work schedule, included on GAP, was been developed on a slower speed than the one expected by the government.

Mr. Lula considered himself as “betrayed” by the consortium led by CSN. On December, the president called the contractors to make account every month on the progress of the work. Despite this event, Lula will leave the government not connecting the ports of Pecem and Suape, in Ceara.

After the meeting to talk about the Nova Transnordestina, the president met Piaui’s governor, Jose Wellington Dias. The state, beyond Pernambuco, is the one where the beginning of the works depended on the expropriations of residents promoted by the government, according to the latest balance sheet of GAP.