Mariana agreement must be paid in 20 years, says Silveira

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveirastated this Monday (16.Sep.2024) that the Mariana (MG) disaster renegotiation agreement must be paid off over 20 years. It is a compromise between the federal government’s previous idea of ​​payment in 12 years and that of the mining companies, of 25 years.

The government’s expectation Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is that mining companies OK, BHP and Samarco accept the proposal that the negotiation reach R$ 167 billion in total, R$100 billion in new money that will be transferred directly to the federal, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo governments.

“The agreement that was being worked out by the previous government provided for R$49 billion in new money, R$37 billion in money already spent and R$14 billion in obligations to be met. Now, we will reach R$100 billion in new money and another R$30 billion in obligations to be met.”said the minister in a radio interview Itatiaia.

Silveira stated that, in terms of obligations to be met, the new amount will make it possible to compensate another 250,000 families impacted by the dam collapse in Mariana. And that the compensation amount per family, which was around R$18,000 per family, should increase to around R$30,000 with the renegotiation.

In June, the government sent the proposal with these figures to the companies and asked that these payments be made over 12 years. In the past, it has advocated a shorter payment period of 6 years. However, the mining companies, which initially asked for 25 years, found the government’s proposal unreasonable and now propose paying everything over 20 years.

The minister also said he believes that the companies will accept the proposal and that the agreement should be closed by the end of 2024. “if the governor doesn’t get in the way”in reference to his opponent from Minas Gerais Romeo Zema (New).

Last Tuesday (10.set), in an interview with Poder360Silveira had already detailed the final numbers that should be achieved:

• R$ 100 billion – direct transfers to the Union, States and municipalities (how much each will receive will still be defined by the governments);
• R$ 30 billion – obligations to be carried out, that is, works that will still be carried out directly by the companies (such as removing waste from the Doce River);
• R$ 37 billion – amount already disbursed by companies since the disaster, which includes compensation to victims and those impacted and the reconstruction of 2 districts of Mariana.

Alexandre Silveira stated that Lula charged a “state solution, not government solution” for the governance of the application of the resources that will be paid. He said that there will be a specific fund and a management committee to ensure that they are used in accordance with the objectives of the agreement.

Negotiations for the Mariana agreement have been dragging on for more than 2 and a half years. They were halted in 2022 with the end of the government Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and resumed in March 2023 with the Lula administration. The negotiations include repair works to be carried out by companies and governments.

The renegotiation that is being discussed was already foreseen in the TTAC (Term of Transaction and Conduct Adjustment) signed by the companies with the governments in 2016, in which they committed to repairing all the damages caused. This is because at the time there was no calculation of the total impact and its cost, which should be determined later.

Read the recent negotiation timeline:

• 8.nov.2023 – governments involved proposed a total agreement of R$126 billion;
• 1st.Dec.2023 – companies proposed an agreement worth approximately R$100 billion, with R$42 billion in new money for governments, around R$21 billion in obligations to be made and R$37 billion in interventions already made;
• 5.Dec.2023 – negotiations were suspended by the courts due to discrepancies in values;
• 19.Apr.2024 – companies proposed an agreement worth R$127 billion, with R$72 billion in new money for governments, R$18 billion in obligations to be made and R$37 billion in interventions already made;
• 3.may.2024 – federal and Espírito Santo governments reject proposal due to disagreement on obligations to be fulfilled;
• 17.May.2024 – companies proposed an agreement worth R$127 billion, with R$72 billion in new money for governments and R$18 billion in obligations to be made (but they changed the list of obligations), in addition to R$37 billion in interventions already made;
• 6.jun.2024 – federal government rejects previous offer and proposes new agreement that includes R$109 billion in new money for governments, in addition to obligations to be made and the R$37 billion in interventions already made;
• 11.jun.2024 – companies propose a R$140 billion agreement, with R$82 billion in new money for governments and R$21 billion in obligations, in addition to R$37 billion in interventions already made.