Alterra to Continue With Lawsuit Against Government
Costa Rica's Juan Santamaría (San José) international airport concessionaire Alterra Partners has decided to continue with a lawsuit against the government, Alterra director Mónica Nagel said.

The lawsuit resulted from a change in the government position on previously agreed upon conditions regarding the recovery of Alterra's investments.

Alterra originally filed an arbitration claim in 2004 but the arbitration panel ruled lack of jurisdiction to resolve the matter, said the director.

Since then, Alterra has negotiated for over three years with the government without reaching a solution, and has filed a new claim with the courts to prevent the statute of limitations from running out, she said.

This legal process could interfere with a proposal submitted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and 10 other creditors for Alterra to continue its modernization operations at the airport, said the ministra de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), Karla Gonzalez.

In addition, civil aviation commission (CTAC) head Viviana Martin has asked that Alterra drop the case while such negotiations are in progress, the paper reported.

"The fact that this company is exercising its rights does not mean that negotiations with the government will be interrupted. On the contrary, the government has also exercised its rights and has imposed fines against us," Nagel said.

The transport ministry ordered Alterra to resubmit a plan to finance its works following a 2003 decision by creditors, led by the IFC, to stall funding due to a disagreement over a clause stipulating how much Alterra could charge in tariffs.

At this point, the IFC had provided us$90 million for the project, but decided to freeze funding in 2003 for lack of certainty as to the repayment of the debt and the changing of conditions by the government, Nagel said.

The IFC-led group has consulted with Alterra on the final draft of the new proposal to fund the works, which now includes a us$48 million contribution from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and an additional us$4 million from independent investors, previous reports indicated.

The proposal must be reviewed by CTAC's six-member technical committee before it is submitted for approval to the national comptroller, because it contains modifications to the proposal originally submitted to the board in January.

If the proposal is approved, Alterra would renew its us$172 million concession to modernize the airport, originally signed in 2001.