The consortium Grupo Vía Central, led by Sacyr Concesiones, has concluded a senior loan of up to 855 million dollars (765 million euros) to finance the construction of 273 km of rail lines in the corridor that will link the country’s capital Montevideo with Paso de los Toros. The project will require an investment of 1.07 billion dollars (960 million euros).
The loan has the participation of SMBC, Intesa San Paolo, IDB, CAF and CAFAM. In addition, to finance the project, the partners in the consortium are contributing 155 million dollars (140 million euros) and the Uruguayan authorities have made prepayments of 60 million dollars (54 million euros).
Grupo Vía Central is comprised of Sacyr (40%), two Uruguayan companies, Saceem (27%) and Berkes (6%) and by the French company NGE (27%).
Construction, operation and maintenance
The project consists of the design, construction, financing, renovation and maintenance for 18 years of the rail line between Montevideo and Paso de los Toros.
The rail connection is a key asset for the country’s development, as it will link the cellulose factory to be built by the Finnish firm UPM with the port of Montevideo. Owing to its scale, the infrastructure will be the largest in the history of Uruguay.
