Is the dream of the new Central Highway paralyzed? Today it was learned that the Central Government resolved the contract with the company PMO Vías in charge of providing technical assistance for the construction of three important works in the country, including the New Central Highway, valued at 24 billion soles.
Other affected projects would be the Santa Rosa Expressway and the access bridge to the Jorge Chávez International Airport.
In a notarial letter sent by the Executive Director of Provías, Claudia Liliana Dávila Moscoso, to her counterpart at PMO Vías, Jaime Rodríguez, she is informed “the full resolution of said contract” accusing the company EGIS AVIA SAS of having participated in acts of corruption.
Furthermore, it states that it has learned that the EGIS group companies in question have been sanctioned and disqualified by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank for fraudulent and corrupt practices during the execution of the contract.
In the document, you are given a period of 15 days to comply with the execution of the contract according to clause 13.1.1 stated. “resolution due to attributable cause.”
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications later issued a statement denying the termination of the government-to-government contract with France.
“The government agreement with France remains in force and has not been resolved, so the execution of these important projects will continue according to the programming established for this year,” the statement says.
They claim that what Provías Nacional did was to teach a communication to terminate the contract for technical assistance to PMO Vías (made up of the French engineering companies EGIS and Setec), and as a result they have started conversations with the company.
MTC statement. Source: MTC
On Channel N, The Executive Director of Provías, Claudia Dávila, clarified that Peru has a government-to-government agreement with France and another is the one signed by the companies.
“The French government presents EGIS as a company of international standard that complies with all the anti-corruption policies requested and a contract is signed with this company (EGIS) and Provias Nacional,” he explained. He also said that PMO Vías does not execute the works, but rather provides technical assistance.
“They accompany the development of the project, they are our specialized advisors who provide support to the project. The contracts for the investment projects are not being resolved and neither is the government-to-government agreement with the French government being resolved, those are in force,” he stated.
He defends himself
However, PMO Vías also sent a statement to the public, in which it accuses National Provías “to unilaterally and surprisingly resolve the Government to Government (G2G) Agreement signed in May 2021, intended to provide high-level technical assistance for the execution of the Santa Rosa Expressway, the New Central Highway and the Santa Rosa Bridge.”
PMO Vias points out that Provías’ decision lacks technical and legal support and its arguments ““They are not linked to the operations carried out in Peru and related to alleged events that occurred years before the signing of the G2G, in other countries and in totally different projects, for which there are no judicial or arbitration decisions.”
Be careful with this: the company in charge of technical assistance for the Central Highway says that they have denied the right to defense and reserve the right to go to national and international bodies to safeguard their rights and interests. It could go to arbitration.
PMO Vias Communiqué. Source: PMO Vias
