BNDES declassifies transactions with Cuba, Angola and other countries

The Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC) announced Tuesday (June 2) it has declassified details of transactions of the MDIC-run Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) with Cuba and Angola. The disclosure is part of an expansion of the BNDES accountability program (BNDES Transparente) that will make information about contracts with these and other countries available online.

According to Minister Armando Monteiro, the declassification will still protect the most sensitive information of the companies involved in the contracts.

Luciano Coutinho, chair of BNDES, said the accountability program web page provides a summary of the contract purpose and such details as the funding amount, interest rates, and collateral. The protected information includes the companies' “private matters” which, if disclosed, could reveal their business strategy and financial condition, for example.

Information on foreign trade contracts from the 2007-2015 period amounting to $11.9 billion is now available online, as well as details of 1,753 domestic contracts in the period 2012-2015, totaling $101 billion. The bank expects to gradually add details of domestic contracts from previous years. The new version of the accountability program is “user-friendly”, according to Coutinho.

Also on Tuesday, the BNDES signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) whereby the bank agreed to be subjected to UNDP controls and to comply with all accountability and control practices recommended by the UN agency. “The bank is open and willing to provide information to Congress, supervisory bodies, and, above all, the society,” Coutinho said.

Translated by Mayra Borges