Essap faces US$6mn debt service deficit in 2004

Paraguay's state water utility Essap faces a deficit of some US$6mn in 2004 in regard to its foreign debt service payments, La Nacion quoted utility president Manuel Lopez Cano as saying. Lopez said that Essap expects to take in some US$24mn next year, adding that US$13mn would go to operations and the rest towards its US$17mn foreign debt service for 2004. The finance ministry has already had to cover several of Essap's foreign debt service payments this year, while the utility's total foreign debt reaches close to US$200mn. He added it is urgent to define what model - mixed or state - Essap will take to determine who will assume the debt. Lopez said the World Bank has invited him to Cartagena, Colombia next month to study water utility models in place there, after which he will visit Brazil's Parana state water utility Sanepar.