Contract with scandal racked Odebrecht near inking

IN SPITE OF growing concerns over the Odebrecht corruption scandal with alleged links to former president Ricardo Martinelli, the Metro Authority is about to sign the contract for the design and construction of line two says Director Roberto Roy.

The $1.8 billion contract was awarded June 2 to a consortium composed of the Brazilian construction company Norberto Odebrecht and the Spanish firm FCC Construcción.
Both Roy and Minister of Economy and Finance Dulcidio De La Guardia have said that they have reviewed the contract and terms of financing presented by the bidder, which includes proposals from four international banks: Citibank, Deutsche Bank and two Japanese financial institutions, Mizuho Bank and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi reports La Prensa
The government is prepared to move forward with the contract despite the corruption scandal surrounding Odebrecht which has resulted in the arrest of top company officials in Brazil, among them President Marcelo Odebrecht.
Investigations, initiated in Brazil, are rapidly spreading to other countries.
The scandal has resulted in a downgrade of the company’s credit rating.
This has raised concerns about the financing of the project and prompted a group of citizens to petition Comptroller Federico Humbert not to sign any contracts involving Odebrecht, including the line two work.
The petition notes that bonds issued by the company could lose their value, impacting the projects.
But De La Guardia said that the banks have assured the government that the financing of the Metro will not be impacted