– ProInversión is enabling OxI to face the FEN. In which regions will this mechanism be deployed?
We are already working on several interventions. For example, we are working on the protection of the Tusamayo river in Cusco, also on the attention of the Early Warning System (SAT), in Ucayali, and now the focus has to be on each region with the National Center for Estimation, Prevention and Disaster Risk Reduction (Cenepred), which is responsible for detecting in which aspects greater investment is needed for the FEN.
– Is that mainly in the north of the country?
In the north because of the rain issue, but let’s not forget that in the south we also have the cold wave (frosts) issue that also requires attention. But the focus is quite broad, so we are working on a proposal that we will submit to the Transfer Commission of the new government to have a regulatory framework for faster response, using OxI so that deadlines are shorter.
– Will that proposal be delivered to the new Government in the coming days?
Correct. There is not much time to lose. We have seen the president-elect in action these days, focused on this issue, and it is worth reflecting that she has this modality available which is important.
– Have you talked with the Public Works concessionaires to apply this mechanism?
We are talking with them because one of the most important networks we have in Peru are the road, port, and airport concessions that are deployed nationwide. We have contacted many of them and they are taking the respective measures so that, in case of strong impacts, the service is never affected. The important thing is to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, but we hope the impact is not strong.
– The first heavy rains could start to manifest in August or September. Is there time to deploy OxI?
There is always time to prevent, especially with the improvements we are proposing to the OxI framework so that more companies join and, of course, not only to prevent but also to face the emergency itself.
– Can OxI be implemented quickly then?
There are many prevention works that have been carried out in northern Peru, and several of them have been left unfinished, so it will be important to find mechanisms to restart them quickly and it may be with the same companies that were in charge. We know there have been fiscal complications, so the financing provided by OxI can be a quite efficient way for these unfinished projects to be completed.
– What other applications are you developing for OxI?
OxI has incorporated services for taxes since this year, focused on the education, health sector and emergency support. The good thing about OxI is its tremendous versatility; it can quickly adapt to the needs and urgencies our country has, such as security (against crime) or education, where it has built many schools. OxI is rapidly becoming one of the main public contracting tools, and it may become the main one going forward.
– OxI projects exceeded S/5.8 billion in the first half. With how much do you expect to close 2026?
We should be close to S/6 billion. To put it in perspective, last year we had S/5.2 billion and this year we will exceed that figure, even being a year of national, regional, and local elections, which gives us a lot of optimism because it reflects that private investment in Peru has increased. We are growing at double digits in private investment and mechanisms like PPPs and OxI complement that confidence indicator.
– How many OxI projects could move forward in the coming years?
At this moment we have an OxI project portfolio amounting to nearly S/20 billion that we are proposing to companies. ProInversión has managed to generate quite a bit of trust in the private sector and local and regional authorities, and that has allowed this mechanism to start growing exponentially. Now we have a total budget of S/60 billion to develop OxI. We are convinced that this new Government will have a fundamental tool for closing gaps, and the important thing is that OxI is a completely decentralized tool.
– It is an investment that reaches all Peruvians and not just Lima.
Something very important to highlight in the last electoral campaign is that practically all candidates talked about OxI as a tool for closing gaps. And I think in our country, in the last five years, a change has occurred that has gone unnoticed, and that is that today private investment is a good word for the population thanks to OxI.
– Has OxI generated a positive change regarding private investment?
I think this mechanism has brought the private company closer to the community and its authorities. We have more and more very important companies joining because they say: ‘I want to do something for my country’. And they don’t know what to do. Finally, the FEN constitutes an opportunity for them to participate.
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
– Apart from the OxI portfolio, what other projects will you present to the new Government?
(…) This week we will award the Cajamarca Wastewater Treatment Plant (PTAR), and a week ago we awarded four electric transmission projects (to Engie Peru). Ahead is the awarding of the Headworks and Construction Works project, which will improve the drinking water service for more than one million inhabitants in Lima, and I am only talking about this year,
– Several projects in a very short time.
We will also award the PTARs of San Martín, Cusco, and Huancayo, and the Choquequirao cable car. And we are very close to the expansion of the natural gas service in Seven Regions, which will be able to meet the needs of southern Peru. If we don’t reach it with this transitional government, we will be very happy that the new government has the opportunity to bring gas to regions like Puno, which has so many expectations.
– Will the Seven Regions project be signed in the coming days?
Seven Regions would be signed in July or August. And also for this year the agreements to expand Lima Metro Line 1 are practically finished, which will give quality of life to the 600 thousand passengers who currently travel daily on this route. Now we will expand this service, together with the MTC and the ATU, to one million passengers.
– When would the Line 1 expansion enter service?
What we expect to sign this year is the concession contract addendum that will allow the execution of the works to begin in 2027, and I am sure that from 2028 Lima residents could enjoy [this service]. And surely, by that time it will connect with Line 2, and we will have an integrated transport system that will link the Peripheral Ring Road with the Central Highway, and the Lima-Chosica train.
– Would the Lima-Chosica train also be ready this year with the wagons brought by the former mayor of Lima?
Yes. It is a topic about which many stories have been told, but ProInversión has been doing this type of project for years. By October at the latest, we will sign this agreement so that by the end of this year or early next year the project officially operates, with a stop in Huaycan and with all the required safety measures. Of course, we will start that way this year, but for the next year there will be eleven more stops, and for a third stage another rail line will be added with which we will have a completely dedicated line. We will see that issue in the very short term.
– Have the technical problems of the train already been solved?
This is a project that the Municipality of Lima and the MTC handed over to ProInversión to solve the problem. Since we are a technical and not a political body, we have worked all these months with a technical profile and at this moment we can announce that the first section of the Lima-Chosica train will be completely ready from October.
– Will the train operation start in October?
I think in the coming months we will be doing several tests and a trial run without passengers, and then we will have several guests to try the service, but at the beginning of this fourth quarter the agreement will be signed between the Municipality of Lima, ProInversión, the concessionaire and the MTC. And added to that is the development of Lines 3 and 4 of the Lima Metro, which the MTC and ATU commissioned us a few days ago. And there are also two important ports that will be expanded.
– As if that were not enough, there are also investments in ports.
Yes. One is the Callao Concentrate Loading Terminal, which is a concession that will be expanded in size. Through this terminal, 30% of the mineral cargo we export leaves. Let’s remember that we are a country where mining is very important and we need to expand infrastructure because mining production will be higher in a few years and we need to have larger ports. In parallel, we are working very hard on the expansion of the South Dock, by DP World.
– What does the DP World expansion consist of?
DP World has presented a proposal to invest not only inside the port terminal but also outside it in order to improve all the logistics quality in Callao. Let’s remember that there are difficulties in the port for trucks to transit and this will translate into improvements in all those roads. The DP World proposal, which we are evaluating, is for US$1.5 billion; and we know that APM Terminals, which is the concessionaire of the North Dock, is working on a similar proposal that it would present this year.
– There are many investments in ports, and I understand there will be more.
Yes, of course. Investments in Peru will continue to grow. We are sure that the Chancay port will also start the next stages of its project very soon. Also, we signed an agreement with the Matarani port (Tisur) last November and we understand that they must now be developing the works to invest more than US$700 million. And we are also sure that the Paita port must be approving the investment in its terminal.
– Is it more than US$4.5 billion in port investments that this Government will receive?
Yes. We must take into account the growth that exports are having in Peru. This year we have exported close to US$90 billion, more than 15 times what we exported 20 years ago. We are world leaders in agro-export and this will only be maintained if infrastructure continues to grow. Investments in ports are good news that the best things in Peru are still to come.
– Are all those investments for the short term?
That is what we have only for this year, but more projects are added to this, for example, two groups of transmission lines (3 and 4) that are ready to be awarded in September and December, and also the Road Network No. 6, which is in a very advanced phase and ready to be signed this year, with several complementary works between Chilca and Cerro Azul. We are quite optimistic that with this new Government we will be able to sustain these investments.
REORGANIZATION OF PETRO-PERÚ
– Apart from all those projects, ProInversión is also tasked with reorganizing Petro-Perú. We understand that the state company was putting obstacles and delays to its own reorganization. Is it already cooperating?
I think the effort we have made in the last six months has been quite resilient because, at first, there was no consensus. ProInversión is used to not being the most popular entity, but it has something that other entities do not have and that is its ability to withstand political and media ups and downs. Today Petro-Perú faces a serious liquidity problem and a severe governance problem that we are working to solve.
– Will you implement a new corporate governance plan for Petro-Perú?
I think the decision made at the end of last year to reorganize Petro-Perú was the right one, and it has been entrusted to an entity that has the capacity to face this space. There have been, in these six months, difficulties in accessing information and also moments of concern about the possibility that DU 010-2025 would be repealed, but, over time, I think we have achieved quite an important consensus among the different actors. We are on the right track.
– Petro-Perú will receive US$500 million as an advance of the US$2 billion financing managed by ProInversión. Will that financing be delivered in the coming days?
Yes. A first tranche of US$500 million was set, for which it is necessary to implement a Special Purpose Company (SPE). This company will only have instructions from ProInversión and will be approved and authorized by the Petro-Perú Board of Directors this week, so the first tranche of US$500 million would be enabled next week. Let’s remember that this is a financing line and that the first to manage it will be ProInversión.
– Will the financing be scrupulously managed by ProInversión?
This is like a credit card. If you have a credit line for S/40,000 it does not mean you will use it all at once, you have to do it responsibly. This financing line will serve to buy crude and pay suppliers, because Petro-Perú has to process crude to produce products that can be marketed. This is a revolving fund that will return again to the SPE that will be created for that purpose. What it will generate is trust.
– Trust that did not exist before?
It will gradually generate trust among the shareholders, who are all Peruvians. But ProInversión’s role goes beyond this issue. We are aware that Petro-Perú had greater urgencies, so we managed for it to receive a US$200 million credit line authorization without any kind of State guarantee, which is the good part of this issue, because the trust that ProInversión generates was transferred to Petro-Perú.
– What will those US$200 million be used for?
Those US$200 million were important because Petro-Perú had, in the previous weeks, maturities of a bond coupon and a bank financing installment (with CESCE) for the Talara refinery, which it had to honor. And it also had to acquire crude so that it could continue operating. What we are doing is preserving an investment of Petro-Perú shareholders, who are all of us, because so far the only ones who have been injecting capital are Peruvians, having so many needs.
– Finally, the launch of the equity blocks would no longer be in July but in August?
We are now in a process of Executive transfer. We will talk with them and will be making the announcement in the coming weeks. We are convinced that we are on the right track because there is no other alternative.
