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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* Govt submits constitutional reform to declare water a national resource - Chile
* YPFB announces five-year investment program of US$11bn - Bolivia
* Supreme court rejects AFP Habitat's injunction against regulator - Chile
* Govt sets new deadline in Metrobus concession - Panama
* SCT to not renew 24 licenses for paging, TV - Mexico
* Water companies to reduce rates by an average 2.8% - Chile
* Vivendi, Televisa to make joint bid for spectrum - Mexico
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* Govt submits constitutional reform to declare water a national resource - Chile
The Chilean government has submitted a constitutional reform to congress which declares water a national resource for public use, congress reported in a release.
The text of the document will be analyzed by the constitution committee.
The proposal was presented as urgent and is expected to be discussed and passed by the lower house within 10 days.
The reform includes water in its liquid, solid - including glaciers and snow - and gaseous states.
The current code, established in 1981, defines water as a national resource for public use, but the fact that all hydrological resources belong to the nation is not explicit in the constitution.
If approved, the modification would also establish limits and obligations regarding water rights.
Hydrological resources must be recognized as national property for public use by the constitution. The current water code created an imbalance between public wellbeing and the interests of a few private parties by leading to a disproportionate concentration of water rights being held by a few, and this needs to be changed, the document says.
According to Chile's anti-trust tribunal (TDLC), 90% of the water rights granted for hydroelectric generation are in the hands of just three companies.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* YPFB announces five-year investment program of US$11bn - Bolivia
Bolivian state hydrocarbons company YPFB announced a five-year investment program of US$11bn, state news agency ABI reported.
YPFB president Carlos Villegas said in August last year that the company would need investment of US$11bn through 2026, which could suggest that Bolivian authorities are planning to accelerate works to finally increase stagnant natural gas production.
"I dream of having our state company becoming as important as Brazil's Petrobras or Venezuela's PDVSA," Bolivian President Evo Morales said at a ceremony to unveil the investment program.
YPFB's investment program will be financed by Bolivia's government, external financing sources and foreign firms that have announced new agreements with the company. YPFB officials said late last year that they had already obtained a US$1bn loan from Bolivia's central bank.
While Bolivia's government has frequently been depicted as hostile to foreign investment, especially after it nationalized most of its hydrocarbons industry, signals have recently started to emerge that the government may again be looking to attract foreign expertise.
Bolivia's government in late November said it was aware that nationalization of the industry in 2006 had not been sufficient to boost production and formed a company to promote and advance new hydrocarbons projects in the county.
Dubbed Empresa Boliviana de Industrialización de Hidrocarburos, the new firm was given a small budget and will seek to form partnerships with foreign companies.
"Bolivia shouldn't have to wait 60 years to get the industry going," the country's hydrocarbons minister Óscar Coca said.
Spanish oil major Repsol (NYSE: REP) said in November it would invest US$1.5bn in Bolivia to increase natural gas production in the country. Russia's Gazprom and French oil major Total (NYSE: TOT) in 2008 signed an MOU with YPFB to invest US$4.5bn in a new natural gas project in Bolivia.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Supreme court rejects AFP Habitat's injunction against regulator - Chile
Chile's supreme court has unanimously confirmed a ruling rejecting a request for an injunction filed by private pension fund manager AFP Habitat against pension regulator SP regarding the rules for this year's tender for the approximately 600,000 new affiliates entering Chile's private pension system in 2010 and 2011, SP said in a press release.
The tender system aims to cut commissions charged to contributors and also to increase efficiency in the industry by tendering new affiliates who enter the system each year to the AFP, offering a commission for 24 months that is less than the industry's lowest. Today the lowest commission is AFP Habitat's 1.36%.
AFP Habitat's injunction was aimed at allowing existing AFP owners to create another AFP with lower commissions. According to the law, the winning AFP in the tender must transfer the lowest commissions to all new and existing affiliates.
The tender will go on as planned, an SP spokesperson told BNamericas, and bids must be submitted by January 22.
Citi (NYSE: C) and the local construction chamber CChC own 40% respective stakes in AFP Habitat.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Govt sets new deadline in Metrobus concession - Panama
Panama's government has extended the deadline to receive offers for Panama City's Metrobus system to April 6, the presidential website reported.
Offers were initially scheduled to be presented on February 26.
The concession period was also extended from 10 to 15 years, the release said.
The awardee, which should be announced one month after the proposals are received, will be responsible for replacing Panama City's ageing bus fleet over an 8-month period.
A total of 41 companies from 10 different countries have shown interest in the tender. Firms include Spain's Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid (EMT), Central America's Grupo Q, Panama's Distribuidora David, Brazil's Busscar, China's Lutong and operators of Chile's Transantiago mass transport system, according to previous reports.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* SCT to not renew 24 licenses for paging, TV - Mexico
Mexico's transport and communications ministry SCT has decided to not renew 24 concession licenses - 22 for paging and two for pay TV and radio - and plans to use the spectrum for new technologies, SCT said in a statement.
The government authority said its decision was due to the fact that the requests for renewal of the licenses were either not presented in time or because the concessionaires wished to use broadcast technology considered obsolete.
SCT has been on a drive since last year to seek greater efficiency in the use of spectrum to stimulate a more competitive market.
SCT also assigned to the government of the state of Baja California the use of certain spectrum bands for developing government activities.
In addition, the ministry has enacted measures that are expected to enable foreign and local companies to operate satellite signals in a more efficient manner for pay TV and data transmission.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Water companies to reduce rates by an average 2.8% - Chile
Potable water and sewage service rates in Chile will decrease by an average of 2.8% in January, the country's sanitation service authority SISS said in a release.
The decrease, which will come into effect on January 15, will benefit about 1.4mn clients whose average monthly consumption is 15m3.
The rate modification will be applied by water companies in regions II, IV, V, X, XI, XII and the metropolitan region.
Economic index values are the principal cause for the rate reduction, according to the release.
Potable water and sewage service rates fell by an average of 7.4% during 2009 for the same reason.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Vivendi, Televisa to make joint bid for spectrum - Mexico
French telecommunications and entertainment group Vivendi and Mexican media group Televisa have allied to launch a joint bid for a mobile license in Mexico, local press reported.
Local newspaper Excelsior reported that negotiations between the two companies are well advanced, and that a partnership agreement is expected to be reached by February 15.
Mexico's telecoms regulator Cofetel said over the weekend that 93 companies acquired bidding rules for an auction for spectrum in the 1.7GHz-1.9GHz bands that went on sale from January 6-8. Winners are expected to be announced by mid-year.
The newspaper reported that Televisa and Vivendi plan to invest over US$3mn in the project, marking Vivendi's second venture into the Latin American telecoms market.
In November, Vivendi acquired Brazilian telephone carrier and internet service provider GVT Holding by buying up outstanding shares and beating off competition for GVT from Spain's Telefónica (NYSE: TEF).
The French group now owns 85.7% of GVT's shares and is due to carry out a public offer for the remainder.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
*
Citibank Peru corporate finance VP Alberto Carrera
Peru
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/privatization/Citibank_Peru_corporate_finance_VP_Alberto_Carrera-/169679470
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Empresa Concessionária de Rodovias do Norte S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Empresa_Concessionaria_de_Rodovias_do_Norte_S,A,-ECONORTE/169679470
* Empresa Nacional de Electricidad S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Empresa_Nacional_de_Electricidad_S,A,-ENDE/169679470
* Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Superintendencia_de_Servicios_Sanitarios-SISS/169679470
* Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Secretaria_de_Comunicaciones_y_Transportes-SCT_Mexico/169679470
* Maxcom Telecomunicaciones S.A. de C.V.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Maxcom_Telecomunicaciones_S,A,_de_C,V,-Maxcom/169679470
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