Rio, July 30, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Brazil will continue to have an oversupply of energy for two or three years, as a result of past investments, but this "bit of leeway" does not mean that it isn't urgent to implant a new model, nor that it has become unnecessary to make decisions to take effect five or six years from now. These projections were made by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff, who gave a speech on Tuesday (29) about the New Model for the Electric Energy Sector, at the opening of the IV Energy Summit.
Rousseff recalled that supply and demand have distinct growth cycles and that supply is currently growing much more rapidly, as a result of investments made during the period when energy was rationed. According to Rousseff, this is the reason for the disproportion, but it is necessary to think about projects for three or four years down the road, when the rhythm of growth in demand will accelerate. The Minister disclosed that 6 thousand Megawatts are coming on line this year, which means that there will be a bubble in 2004. "We are conscious of this anomaly, which is neither lasting nor consistent with the model," she affirmed.
The Minister affirmed that shareholders, private banks, and the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) will serve as the basis for recapitalization in the new electric energy model that the government intends to establish for electricity distribution companies that contracted short-term debts, due to the reduction in energy consumption. She emphasized that the government is not contemplating a process implemented solely by the BNDES.
Rousseff guaranteed that pension funds will be able to take part in the process, provided that recapitalization takes the form of bond issues. She explained that the model does not adhere to features of the current model and will necessarily call for an improvement in the evaluation of companies' credit conditions. As for energy generation companies, the Minister said that they are not included in this case, because they don't have short-term debts. "The problem faced by the generation companies is one of long-term credit and structural debts, which is completely different," she explained.
According to the Minister, the electric energy sector will receive a court of appeals, to reduce costs and risks, following the example of what already exists in the Federal Revenue office. In her view, the creation of this administrative instance is under review and will be included in the new model that the federal government is developing for the sector, in order to prevent questions that are specific to the sector from being resolved in the Judicial sphere.
The IV Energy Summit continues through Thursday (31). (DAS)
