After years of intricate negotiations, the Ministry of Transport and Vli Logistics finally reached an agreement to renew the concession of the Central Atlantic Railroad) by 2056. The current contract wins in August next year.
According to reports made to CNNthe agreement provides for investments of approximately R $ 20 billion in the rail network, without including the exchange of rolling material (locomotives and wagons).
Among the obligations of the new contract would be the complete revitalization of the Minas-Bahia corridor, between Corinth (MG) and Aratu (BA), one of the most demanded works by the governments of both states.
The terms of the renewal have already been sent by the Ministry of Transport to the Antt (National Land Transportation Agency), which will be responsible for verifying whether the economic and financial modeling and the rail exploration plan of the new contract are properly aligned.
With this, the government and the agency would be sure that the investments agreed and the proper grant fit the rate of return of the project.
According to two sources involved in the process, such as the emphasis of the negotiation was given to new investments in the network, the grant (direct payment to the National Treasury) should be less than $ 1 billion.
The government’s objective is to send the case to the Federal Court of Audit (TCU) until November. The endorsement of the control body is the last step for the signing of the new contract, with 30 years.
They are also on the list of future obligations, through the existence of demand for cargo, at least two works exhaustively discussed between the Federal Government and the VLI.
One is the construction of a new bridge, for the passage of trains, between the Bahian municipalities of São Félix and Cachoeira. Another is the rail contour of Belo Horizonte.
If there is sufficient cargo movement, these works will be performed, but will give rise to the economic rebalancing of the contract in the future.
For government negotiators, one of the trushes in the discussions was the existence of advanced studies for rail relying. For the first time, when dealing with a dealership, the government had the card to resume the railroad and organize a new auction.
FCA’s railway network is 7,200 kilometers long and crosses the states of Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Sergipe, besides the Federal District.
Sought by CNNthe advice of VLI Logística did not comment on the subject until the publication of the report.
