LIMA – Brazil’s Odebrecht has agreed to sell its hydroelectric plant in Peru to a Chinese state group, in an operation that includes at least US$618 for civil damages for corruption cases in the country, as well as taxes and suppliers.
The figure is part of a total investment of US$1,390 million China will make Three Gorges Corporation for the plant, said sources related to the operation. They specified that some US$760 million of the total amount will be for direct payment to the firms that financed the construction.
Justice Minister Vicente Zeballos said at a conference with foreign press that the figure was agreed between Odebrecht and China Three Gorges Corporation, at a time when the Brazilian construction company is seeking to sell its assets to repair damages due to a corruption scandal and debts with your creditors.
“We are at the close, the amount agreed by both the buyer and the seller more or less are 618 million (dollars),” said Zeballos. He said that this operation could rise by US $ 20 million after an observation made by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
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A source close to the operation said that of the 620/640 million dollars that correspond to Odebrecht for the Chaglla hydroelectric plant, half would go to a trust fund for the payment of a civil repair and a reserve to guarantee the payment of tax debts.
“The other half would be used for payment to suppliers of the company,” added the source, who preferred anonymity.
The construction of Chaglla, which has 456 megawatts of installed power, required an investment of US $ 1,500 million. The plant, located in the center of the country and where there are important mining companies, is managed by the Huallaga SA Generation Company, owned by Odebrecht.
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The minister had affirmed that the book value of Chaglla amounts to about US $ 1,200 million and that the reduction of the transaction by half “is due to financial, tax and labor debts”.
“If the sale prospers, 50% corresponds to the selling company and the other 50% goes to the State as civil compensation. We are in that phase right now,” he said.–MercoPress
