ON DECEMBER 10 Alstom Chairman & CEO Patrick Kron signed an agreement that will see 65 metro cars ordered for the Buenos Aires network assembled at the company’s La Plata works in Argentina.
Deliveries from Alstom’s Lapa works in São Paulo, Brazil, had been suspended due to payment difficulties, and Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime explained that the government had agreed to provide a total of US$156m, representing a ’very significant saving’ on the original contract price of $214m.
The Argentinian government’s $10m debt with Brazilian development bank BNDES is to be met by Alstom, which will be investing 10m pesos at La Plata including the installation of a production line from Canada. As well as a further 16 cars for Buenos Aires, over the next three years La Plata may take a share of recent metro orders won by Alstom in Brazil, Chile and the USA (RG 1.03 p35).
- With a bid of 99·9m pesos, Benito Roggio has won the contract to build the 1·6 km extension of Line B from Los Incas to Villa Urquiza (RG 10.04 p 663).
