MG closes leniency agreement for fraud in City Administrative bids

The government of Minas Gerais closed a leniency agreement worth BRL 202.4 million with Novonor (formerly Odebrecht) and OEC (the group’s engineering and construction arm) for fraud in bids for the construction of the Administrative City, the seat of state public power.

The command center of the government of Minas Gerais was built during the administration of the current federal deputy Aécio Neves (PSDB), who was at the head of the state between 2003 and 2010, and was budgeted at R$ 1.2 billion. The headquarters brings together most of the secretariats and autarchies in the Serra Verde neighborhood, in the northern region of Belo Horizonte. The project is by Oscar Niemeyer. The inauguration took place on March 4, 2010.

In a note sent by his advisory, deputy Aécio Neves says that all works carried out by the government of Minas during the PSDB administrations were carried out with rigor and transparency. “Former governor Aécio Neves is unaware of the matter, but says that whenever a company commits any irregularity that harms the State, this damage must be compensated”, says the text.

“In this sense, if that is the case, the current government and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Minas Gerais acted correctly in guaranteeing this reparation”, says the deputy, in the note.

The leniency agreement, announced this Wednesday (23) by the government of Minas Gerais, is the third involving fraud in bids for the construction of the Administrative City. The total value of the three terms is R$374 million. Part of the amount is also related to fraud in the Luz Para Todos program, by Cemig (Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais).

The state attorney general, Sérgio Pessoa, said that the agreements are part of the fight against corruption. “The position of the general attorney is to support propositional constructions like this third one that we bring here, in a transparent way to convey to society the importance of conducting the fight against corruption in the state of Minas Gerais”, said Pessoa.

Resources from the three agreements will be used in investments in the areas of health and education, according to the attorney general. By contract, the state and the companies cannot pass on other information, such as, for example, in which bids the irregularities occurred.

The MPMG (Minas Gerais Public Prosecutor’s Office) prosecutor, Daniel Piovanelli, who participated in closing the agreement, said that investigations that may involve members of the government at the time are continuing.

The R$202.4 million agreement announced this Wednesday will be paid in installments over 21 years and will be restated by the Selic rate. The previous term of leniency was signed on November 7 of this year with the construction company Coesa, formerly OAS, in the amount of R$ 42.7 million.

Payment will be made in 19 annual installments. The company also undertook to provide inspection bodies with information on harmful acts that may lead to further investigations. The same happened with OEC and Novonor.

The first agreement along these lines was signed in 2021 with the construction company Andrade Gutierrez. The payment to the state will be R$ 128.9 million. The report contacted the builders. Cemig was also contacted.

According to Novonor, the holding company that controls OEC, “the agreement is part of a broad collaboration with the authorities and is related to events that occurred more than seven years ago. Today the company is completely transformed, uses the most recommended compliance standards and remains committed to acting ethically, with integrity and transparency”.

Andrade Gutierrez says it supports every initiative to fight corruption and aims to clarify facts that occurred in the past.

“The company continues to collaborate with ongoing investigations within the leniency agreements signed with the Federal Public Ministry, the Comptroller General of the Union, the Attorney General’s Office, (Cade) Administrative Council for Economic Defense, Attorney General of the State of Rio de Janeiro and with the State of Minas Gerais”, affirms the positioning sent to the reporter by the construction company.

The company also says that “it has incorporated different initiatives into its operations to guarantee the smoothness and transparency of its commercial relations, whether with customers or suppliers”.