Infrastructure minister says early renewal of Vale railroad contract will help fund conclusion of Fiol and Transnordestina

According to the Infrastructure Minister, Tarcísio Freitas, the government intends to use the early renewal of Vale’s two railroad concessions to enable the completion of two other projects in the sector: the Nova Transnordestina and the West-East Integration Railway (Fiol).

The extension of contracts for the two railroads operated by the mining company – Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) and Estrada de Ferro Vitória-Minas (EFVM) – has already been submitted to a public hearing and had its proposals forwarded to the Federal Audit Court (TCU) ), which has not yet finished its analysis.

Using a cross-investment mechanism that is permitted by a law enacted in 2017 and regulated by presidential decree last year, the government had already announced the requirement, as a compensation for the contract being extended by 30 years, for the construction of two new railways by Vale: a stretch of the Midwest Integration Railway, from Água Boa (MT) to Mara Rosa (GO), and a new line between Cariacica and Anchieta (ES).

The novelty is that, even with these two projects (later they will be auctioned to some operator), there will still be a concession amount due by Vale as a counterpart to the early renewal. This money should be paid to the Federal Government. Tarcísio revealed that he intends to use the surplus of funds for the purchase of tracks for the unfinished work of Transnordestina, which was recently resumed, and in section 2 of the Fiol, between Caetité and Barreiras (BA).

“There will still be a free grant. We have to close the amount with TCU, but it will give a boost to these two works ”, said Tarcísio.

Source: Valor

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