Brasília – This Friday (1st), a notice was included in the Federal Gazette stating that the Brazilian federal government submitted a bill to the National Congress that paves the way for the sale of six of state-run power utility Eletrobras’ distribution subsidiaries in the country’s North and Northeast.
Eletrobras – Centrais Elétricas Brasileiras S.A. – is a holding company comprising several generation, transmission and distribution businesses. It coordinates electric power distribution in Brazil, its majority stakeholder being the federal government.
The bill’s submission to Congress is the second attempt by the government to advance the sales. Last month, Chamber of Deputies president Rodrigo Maia (from the Rio de Janeiro chapter of the DEM party), withdrew Provisional Measure 814/17, which altered electric sector laws, from the Chamber’s agenda, on grounds of disagreements among representatives regarding the issue.
The new bill is expected to incorporate the key points of Provisional Measure 814/17, but the inclusion of Eletrobras itself in the national privatizations program (Programa Nacional de Desestatizações – PND) – the point most criticized by representatives – should be left out this time around.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
