Financing of up to 40 years for railways will be launched on Thursday (11)
The federal government and BNDES launch, this Thursday (11), a new line of financing for railway projects with a longer payment period. The information was given by the Minister of Transport, George Santoro, during his participation in the program "Good Morning, Minister".
When contacted by the report, the Ministry of Transport informed that the maximum payment period is expected to be 40 years. The announcement should be made during the event "New Paths on Rails: The Future of Railways in Brazil", at Arena B3.
Recently, the minister had already signaled to CNN that the ministry and the development bank were discussing the structuring of this new credit policy for the railway sector. However, Santoro asked for financing for up to 60 years and an extended grace period.
The initiative aims to adapt public financing to the reality of railway projects, which require high initial investments and have financial returns over longer periods. The expectation is that the new modality will also have extended grace periods, reducing financial pressure during the construction implementation phase.
The creation of the line is part of the government's strategy to increase the participation, mainly of international investors, in projects such as Ferrogrão and EF-118 (Southeast Railway Ring), which require a high volume of resources to be built.
The ministry's assessment is that traditional financing mechanisms do not reflect the characteristics of the railway sector and that the new conditions would be more compatible with the profile of the projects, which could increase the competitiveness of the next planned projects.
Southeast Ring
During the program, the minister also stated that the request for archaeological research, required by Iphan (Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage), should not further delay the EF-118 schedule.
According to him, the TCU (Federal Audit Court) must complete the analysis of the project by July at the latest, and the notice could be published in 2026.
The Southeast Railway Ring auction is one of the most anticipated by the sector and could be the first to go to auction this year. However, the bidding schedule - initially scheduled to be taken to B3 in June - is already delayed.
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If the TCU completes the analysis of the concession in July without recommending changes to the project - an unusual scenario in processes of this complexity -, the government will be able to publish the notice subsequently. In this schedule, the auction would be held in October, respecting the period of approximately 90 days normally granted to the market to evaluate the bidding conditions and structure proposals.
The railway is expected to receive R$6.6 billion in investments - with cross contributions of R$4.1 billion coming from the payment of other concessions - in its implementation phase.
In the first stage, it will be 246 kilometers between Santa Leopoldina (ES) and São João da Barra (RJ). It may, in the future, be extended to Nova Iguaçu (RJ).
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Source: CNN