ELETROBRAS: Brazilian House To Start Discussion On Privatization On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Brazilian House of Representatives will start discussions on Eletrobras privatization next Tuesday. A committee will analyze the bill authorizing the transaction, as well as terms of sale of the government's interest in the company.

José Carlos Aleluia, the lawmaker in charge of reviewing the bill in the committee, signaled that he would make changes to the original proposal.

The idea, according to him, is to embed in the bill the creation of a new autonomous agency to take care of the revitalization of the São Francisco river and the power generation in the Northeastern region.

The agency would be shielded against political interference and funded with the proceeds of the sale of government's stake in the company.

In addition to the changes proposed by Aleluia, the sale of Eletrobras will have to overcome other challenges in the House of Representatives. Chief among them is the resistance on the part of the North and Northeast regions lawmakers, which are against privatization as they fear that future changes in the management of the company would harm their constituencies with higher energy tariffs, for example.