Colombia cancels contract with Odebrecht and opens new bidding process.
The Colombian Superintendency of Industry and Commerce ordered on Thursday the cancellation of a concession contract with the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for the construction of a major highway and also ordered the opening of a bidding process to award the contract to another company; the company of Marcelo and Emílio Odebrecht, convicted in Lava Jato, is being wiped off the map.
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Superintendency of Industry and Commerce ordered on Thursday the cancellation of a concession contract awarded to the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for the construction of a major highway, and also ordered the opening of a new bidding process to award the contract to another company.
The decision was made as a consequence of the scandal that Odebrecht is facing in Colombia and other Latin American countries after paying millions in bribes to receive contracts.
"With the aim of restoring free economic competition, the Superintendency ordered the National Infrastructure Agency to immediately finalize the Concession Contract for the Rota do Sol Section 2, along with its modifications, additions, and other aspects," the agency informed in a statement.
The concession to build a 528-kilometer highway, valued at approximately $1,7 billion, was controlled by Odebrecht with 62 percent, and the Colombian Financial Corporation was a partner with 33 percent. CSS Constructores held the remaining 5 percent.
Odebrecht pleaded guilty in December in a US court to violating anti-bribery laws, following an investigation in Brazil into an extensive corruption network between 2001 and 2016, in which it paid approximately $439 million to political parties, foreign officials, and their representatives in various Latin American countries.
(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra)