NEGOTIATIONS FOR HCB SALE ON RIGHT PATH

Negotiations for the sale of Portugal’s remaining 15 per cent share in Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi river, are “on the right path” according to the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Paulo Portas.Portas was speaking to journalists in Maputo on Monday at the end of his two-day working visit to Mozambique. He said that a “relevant company” had shown interest in buying 7.5 per cent of HCB, although he refused to name the company.Until 2007 the Portuguese state owned 82 per cent of HCB, while Mozambique only held 18 per cent. However, Mozambique took control of the dam in November 2007 when it purchased 67 per cent of the shares from Portugal, for a price of 700 million US dollars. As a result, the Mozambican state now owns 85 per cent of HCB.In March 2010 the Portuguese government announced that it was willing to sell its remaining stake in the company.However, a disagreement over the value of the shares has blocked the sale, with Portugal arguing that they should be sold for 6 billion meticais.During his visit Portas met with Mozambican Foreign Minister, Oldemiro Baloi, and the two ministers discussed the dates for holding a bilateral summit.At the end of the meeting, Portas stressed the strong relationship which exists between the two countries, stating that there is no area that is not covered by this relationship, and that there was no record of any disagreement on the approach to cooperation.Oldemiro Baloi expressed his happiness that Paulo Portas has made Mozambique one of the first countries that he has visited since taking over as Foreign Minister. According to Baloi, the relationship between the two countries has been consolidated, despite a change in government in Portugal.“The government has changed but the relationship between the states continues. Over the coming months we are going to try to accelerate projects we have in the areas of health, finance, education, defence and security, science and technology, transport and communication, and agriculture. We face many challenges, but they will certainly be overcome because of the enormous good will on both sides”, said Baloi.On Monday, Paulo Portas met with President Armando Guebuza. The Portuguese Foreign Minister was joined by the former Minister of Justice, Celeste Cardona, who now represents the Portuguese state bank, the Caixa Geral de Depositos (CGD), which is the major shareholder in Banco Comercial e de Investimento (BCI).