Sinohydro reportedly interested in Magdalena project

Chinese state-owned construction firm Sinohydro is said to be interested in taking over the concession to make Colombia's Magdalena river navigable.

Sinohydro could replace troubled Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which has a 87% stake in Navelena, the consortium that won the 2.5tn-peso (US$934mn) concession contract, Luis Fernando Andrade, head of Colombia's national infrastructure agency ANI told Reuters.

Odebrecht has been in the eye of the storm across Latin America following its involvement in the massive Lava Jato graft case in Brazil and elsewhere. In Colombia, the firm has been accused of bribing its way to secure several contracts with payments of some US$11mn.

Andrade said the only solution in order to move the Magdalena river project would be for Odebrecht to cede its share to a third party unrelated to Navelena or Odebrecht. Otherwise, the contract would have to be declared void and a new tender call issued.

The project, which has been in the works since 1991, is considered vital for multimodal transport in the country. Initial works include dredging 256km of the 1,500km river in 15 modules over five years.

In addition to the Odebrecht headaches, the project's funding partner, Japan's Sumitomo, is seeking to exit the project, as it tries to avoid being tainted by the bribery scandal.

Colombian authorities are also looking into Odebrecht's alleged funding of the 2014 presidential campaigns of both President Juan Manuel Santos and center-right candidate Óscar Iván Zuluaga.