Management Council will direct actions to Public Private Partnerships in RN

The State Government has, together with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), two signed contracts for technical feasibility studies for the inclusion of Porto-Indústria Verde and the new Estrada de Pipa in the Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) program ), regulated in December last year by the state Executive. The information was given by the RN Planning Secretary, Virgínia Ferreira, during the installation of the Public Private Partnership Management Council (CGPP/RN), this Thursday morning (25), in Natal.

The collegiate has 14 members from various State departments, as well as representatives from entities such as the Federations of Commerce (Fecomércio-RN), Industry (FIERN), Passenger Transport Companies (FETRONOR), Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries ( FAERN) and the Civil Construction Industry Union (Sinduscon-RN). “The installation of this Council is very important, because there is a perspective with these partnerships on the part of the Government and businesspeople, who have their own vision. The CGPP will be the union of the two objectives to serve the user”, commented Ferreira.

Etelvino Patrício, director of FIERN, highlighted the importance of the union to direct the actions of the state Executive in the list of Public-Private Partnerships. “We started this journey since the drafting of the PPP law, where FIERN participated very actively. Now, the Council brings important discussions to guide the next steps that the Government should follow. In an intense way, we also want to participate in this direction, participating in what is important for Rio Grande do Norte”, highlighted Patrício.

Board meetings shall take place once a month, as agreed at the meeting.
At the beginning of the year, Secretary Virgínia had confirmed to TRIBUNA DO NORTE that the State had asked BNDES to carry out studies to include six assets from Rio Grande do Sul. The BNDES reported, in January this year, that the request was made official on the 16th of that month and includes the Convention Center, Tourism Center, Estrada de Pipa, Infovia Potiguar, Porto-Indústria Verde and Mossoró Bus Terminal. With the signing of the two contracts announced this Thursday, studies for the inclusion of the two projects can, in fact, begin, according to the secretary.

“This means that BNDES can start analyzing the technical feasibility of both. This analysis will be able to define the investments to be made, confirming or not our estimate”, explained Virgínia Ferreira, without mentioning the Government’s projection for the two PPPs.

“What we can say is that BNDES starts with the study and continues until attracting investors”, says Virgínia. Last January she had informed that the studies would take 12 months to complete. Regarding the inclusion of other assets, the manager stated that it will now be debated by the Management Council of the Rio Grande do Norte Public-Private Partnership Program (CGPP/RN), installed yesterday.

She informed, however, that the inclusion of these projects is already being requested from Banco do Nordeste (BNB). “This Friday (26), we will have a meeting with the president and the technical director of the bank, to talk about the other proposals, which are the Convention Center, Infovia Potiguar, the Tourism Center and the Mossoró Bus Station” , pointed out the manager.

In addition, the government also requests the BNB to install photovoltaic energy in all public bodies in the State. “This way, we intend to reduce our own costs”, says Virgínia Ferreira. The deputy secretary of the Planning department (Seplan/RN), Dionísio Gomes, said that the disputes with the BNB are motivated by the regional factor. “Banco do Nordeste knows our reality very well, so a partnership will become easier. And our expectation is that all of them will be agreed and hired”, he described.

“BNB will enter into a partnership with the IDB [Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento] now in May to, from then on, develop PPPs in several states in the Northeast. Rio Grande do Norte has already come forward with some requests. Of course, everything will also be discussed with the Council”, informed the secretary.