President of the Brazilian Development Bank (“BNDES”) Luciano Coutinho said Tuesday (May 28) that the financing operation of the Port of Mariel, in Cuba, was free from any irregularities.

“It is a regular operation, which received all approvals and guarantees. The Cuban government has honored its contracts with the utmost punctuality,” Coutinho declared during a public hearing at the Commission for Financial Inspection of the Chamber of Deputies. He was invited by the deputies to talk about the Brazilian loan for the renovation of the port, inaugurated in January this year. Work costs amounted to $957 million, with $682 million from BNDES.

BNDES’s president states that no loans have been granted to the Caribbean island, but rather to Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. He explained that, according to the law, BNDES is not allowed to lend money to foreign companies. “BNDES can only grant funding to Brazilian companies responsible for providing services abroad. Our relationship is built with national companies, so that jobs can be created in Brazil.”

The loan, like the investments in Caracas’s subway network, in Venezuela, was met with much criticism by opposition congressmen. “I see billions and billions confidentially invested overseas. It seems money travels abroad with overabundance, but in our own country resources are found lacking,” said Carlos Brandão, deputy from the opposition’s Brazilian Social Democracy Party (“PSDB”).

Luciano Coutinho also noted that the investment was made in exporting engineering services, and that the competition in this market is fierce. He pointed out that, in Latin America, Brazil accounts for nearly 18% of the exports of engineering services for the region, second only to Spain, and followed by the US and China. “We provide services to countries such as Argentina, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Peru and Ecuador,” BNDES's president affirmed.

In his view, the financial support given to the Port of Mariel was “an opportunity for more than 400 Brazilian small-, medium-, and large-sized companies to export equipment, services, and engineering. It has built a port complex that, in the short and long run, will play a crucial role in opening the Cuban economy to the world.”

Coutinho went on to say that the funds granted abroad total less than 3% of all of BNDES’s investments. He remarked that the bank has made $6.62 billion available for the investment in Brazilian ports. “Not a cent has been invested abroad. All funds from the bank have been invested in Brazil. Our investments are made in reals in an attempt to provide resources to Brazilian exporters of equipment and services, to be paid back in installments, with a strong currency,” he added.