Govt. begins negotiations with Alterra

Santamaría airport concessionaire Alterra Partners has started negotiations with Costa Rica's government regarding an US$18.7mn claim for lost revenue, the executive director of Alterra's Costa Rica unit, Mónica Nágel told BNamericas. "Negotiations - that should have started a year ago - are to analyze alternative solutions to respect contracts with international banks," she wrote in an emailed response. Costa Rica's comptroller general "interpreted differently" a contract governing the concessionaire's tariff model, causing Alterra to suffer a shortfall in projected income. Specifically, the comptroller "questioned certain development costs and operational expenses that were to be recovered in tariffs - and those costs had been approved previously by the Costa Rican government," she said. The comptroller must approve any agreement reached between the government and Alterra. The government will recess for the year on December 17, meaning negotiators aim to submit by then "a scratch copy" of the proposal, which is under development. Alterra, controlled by US construction giant Bechtel, signed a 20-year contract in 2002 to run operations at Santamaría airport. Santamaría is Costa Rica's largest airport, some 20km west of capital San José. The contract called for US$120mn investments to modernize the airport, for which Alterra turned to ten international banks for financing. Since March 2003, US$30mn of that total has been held up by the banks until arbitration is finalized.