President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met this Friday (29) with the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), and the mayor of the capital of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), for the signing of financing contracts for urban mobility and infrastructure works. The resources, estimated at around R$10.65 billion, will come from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES).
In addition to the works and financing, the alleged coup d’état investigated by the Federal Police (PF) was highlighted at the event by the bank’s president, Aloizio Mercadante, and the chief minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa. This was Lula’s first meeting with Tarcísio after the indictment of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and 36 other people.
President of BNDES highlighted “great effort” to sign the contracts
Lula did not speak at the event. Mercadante highlighted what he called a “great effort” to sign the contracts. In the BNDES president’s account, the amount is almost half of what was financed in the state in the last 10 years.
“It is not easy for a president and a vice-president, who have been threatened with death, a coup d’état and everything we have seen recently, to maintain the same attitude of commitment and respect for the popular vote, with those who are elected, a PAC that Talk to all the mayors and governors of Brazil. This is how we will improve this country”, he added.
Rui Costa, in turn, made a similar speech and praised Lula, saying that the president works while other people “root against Brazil.” Addressing the President of the Republic, he praised: “You show, more than ever, the figure of a statesman, who is not shaken even by all the information and news that has come to light from those who plotted a coup. State,” he said.
Nunes and Tarcísio commented on the impact of investments
At the event, contracts were signed for the expansion of subway line 2 in the city of São Paulo; the purchase of electric buses; the execution of works on the northern section of the Rodoanel and the implementation of the new intercity train to connect the capital to Campinas. The actions are part of the new Growth Acceleration Program (PAC).
Nunes and Tarcísio spoke about the impacts of financing. For the mayor of São Paulo, the highlight is the comfort for users and the environmental impact that will be provided by electric buses. Tarcísio thanked the support for works on highways, subways and trains, and assessed that the measure could reinvigorate the industry in the country. For the governor of São Paulo, the partnership with BNDES should generate new agreements for expansions of the subway network and the tunnel between Santos and Guarujá.
“A new era is opening in rail transport, in metro-rail transport, with the expansion of the subway, with the expansion of trains, in other words, demand is being created so that we can have the running material industry being reinvigorated here”, said Tarcísio.
What will be covered by the contracts signed with BNDES
The BNDES contract with the city of São Paulo includes financing for the purchase of 1,300 electric buses manufactured in Brazil. With the state, the bank signed contracts to finance the 8.2 km extension of green line 2 of the capital’s metro. 8 new stations will be built, with an increase of 44 new trains in the fleet. The vehicles must be manufactured in Brazil, and the expansion must continue until the end of 2028.
The intercity train between São Paulo and Campinas is still in the bank’s contract with the state. The express service between the two cities will be 101 km long, with connections to intermetropolitan trains and metro line 7. When the service is operational, scheduled for mid-2031, travel between cities should take around an hour.
Finally, the northern section of the Rodoanel, a structure that connects 12 highways in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, will receive traffic from 30 thousand trucks and 54 thousand cars that currently travel along Marginal Tietê every day.
