Government makes $4.5 billion on dam tender
According to the chair of the Joint Budget Committee, Senator Rose de Freitas, the government will only profit from the auctions next year 
The Ministry of Mines and Energy reported that contracts have been awarded for all 29 hydroelectric plants put up for concession tender Wednesday (Nov. 25). The winning bidders have paid $4.5 billion worth of buyer's premiums.
The auction of 29 power plants (6,000 megawatts total output capacity) will not change the plants' existing distribution contracts. As these contracts expire, they will be renewed at the auction prices.
The ministry pointed out that the $4.5 billion will go into the Treasury and help restore the government's financial health. “Results have shown that the energy sector is a safe area for investment and the country will deliver on its contracts as it historically has.”
But according to the chair of the Joint Budget Committee (BMC), Senator Rose de Freitas, the government will only profit from the auctions next year. About her meeting with Finance Minister Joaquim Levy, which lasted over two hours, she said she had no assurances that the proceeds from the concession contracts would start to come in in December this year.
“We asked the [Finance] minister about it. He did mention that R$11 billion ($2.92 billion) will be coming in, but not before next year,” the senator said.
The Committee postponed the vote on the 2016 revenue report from yesterday to today (26). According to Rose de Freitas, the political turmoil is interfering with the voting schedule. “There's a political crisis going on. The only sure thing right now is, fiscal adjustment is deadlocked,” she said.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Government makes $4.5 billion on dam tender
