In reference to the article published in the Valor Econômico newspaper today, Friday, August 5, 2016, which mentions the ongoing negotiations with the federal government regarding the bases agreed for the financing of the Nova Transnordestina project and the extension of its completion deadline to 2020, CSN states that:
(i) extensions, sub-extensions and stretches that are being constructed as part of the Northeast Railway System by TLSA (concessionaire controlled by CSN, which has the participation in its capital stock of VALEC, BNDES and FDNE), and totals approximately 1,753 km, are 52% completed. It is currently governed by set of contractual instruments that includes, in addition to the shareholders‘ agreement, an investment agreement aimed at regulating public and private funding sources and their inputs schedule;
(ii) although it is a fact that the work will not be completed within the time limit set between the federal government and the concessionaire in 2013, the delay is not the responsibility of TLSA or its controlling company, CSN, but due to the delay in the release of funds by the federal bodies and entities involved, whether due to procedural limitations or the effect of budget contingencies;
(iii) in accordance with the Investment Agreement signed in September 2013, CSN already contributed almost all of its own resources as set out for the project;
(iv) most of the amount mentioned in the Valor Econômico’s article, R$3.6 billion, will be obtained from the use contracts of the permanent railway or similar modality regulated by ANTT, to be concluded between TLSA and CSN or other third parties;
(v) CSN, aware of the interests of its shareholders and the necessary compatibility of the commitments undertaken with its economic and financial resources, has been maintaining discussions with the federal government in order to keep distribution of public and private efforts premises and identify the conditions considered adequate to adapt the project to the country‘s reality and economic needs;
(vi) CSN reaffirms its commitment to the completion of the biggest railway logistics project in the country in an effort to modernize the rail network that serves 10 states in the Northeast region (Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia and Tocantins) and that has the potential to generate more than 7,000 direct jobs during its construction and transport up to 40 million tons per year.
São Paulo, August 05, 2016.
