In the midst of the fight over the Budget, Martín Llaryora and Maximiliano Pullaro met with Luis Caputo

In the middle of the fight with the Nation for the Budget 2025the governors of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaroand from Córdoba, Martin Llaryoramet on Wednesday with the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputoto advance the US$100 million loan that the Saudi Fund will grant for the construction of the Biprovincial Aqueductwhich will supply water drinking water for 400 thousand inhabitants of both provinces.

The meeting took place at the Palacio de Hacienda and, in addition to the officials, was attended by the ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Argentina, Hussein Alassiri; the CEO and head of Protocol of the Saudi Fund, Sultan Abdulrahman Almarshadand Faisal Alkhushaibanrespectively; the Santa Fe Minister of Economy, Pablo Olivares; the executive director of the Agency for Economic Cooperation and External Financing, Gonzalo Saglione; and the deputy and the former governor Omar Perottiwho signed the loan during his administration.

Agreement to advance the Biprovincial Aqueduct

Specifically, the leaders signed with Caputo the counter-guarantee agreements, to advance the loan of 100 million dollars that the Saudi Fund will grant for the execution of blocks B and C of the Biprovincial Aqueduct.

Previously, Caputo signed the loan guarantee contract with the representatives of the Saudi Fund, since the National State, being sovereign, operates as guarantor before the Fund.

For this reason, the governors of Santa Fe and Córdoba signed a second contract with the Nation, since if the central government had to face the debt, it would be withheld from the co-participation.

After the event, which took place in Buenos Aires, Pullaro highlighted that “this project really transcends governments”; and recalled that “it began in the management of Governors Schiaretti and Perotti” – who accompanied the signing ceremony today -, “and today we can continue it together with Governor Llaryora and our work team.”

“It is a work that will benefit many towns in the provinces of Santa Fe and Córdoba,” the Santa Fe governor pointed out; and highlighted that “it is a unique experience in the Argentine Republic, which has to do with coordination, the work of the different technical teams, but fundamentally with the coordination with international organizations and with the endorsement of the Nation guarantee. So we are very happy that this project can be completed and perhaps have many more projects with these characteristics.”

Works

In this sense, he indicated that “There are many people from Santa Fe and also people from Córdoba who are participating in the construction of this aqueduct; And being able to move forward also has to do with the continuity of work, at a time when public works in Argentina have suffered greatly.”

Works

At the same time, Pullaro highlighted that Santa Fe “is the least indebted province in Argentina: at the end of the month, we have what we owe in our cash, what we owe for 30 years; and therefore we could have many credits to think about infrastructure works, which focus on productive, energy and road development, on connectivity, to generate work and economic growth.”
The first stage of the work, which is divided into blocks, includes the execution of an aqueduct to supply drinking water to 32 towns in the center of Santa Fe and 21 in the northeastern sector of Córdoba.

Block A, which is running, It includes the intake work, the raw water aqueduct, the water treatment plant, 4,740 meters of trunk aqueduct until crossing Highway AP01 and R1.2 to enter the city of Coronda and its distribution center. This work has financing from the Kuwait Fund, of 50 million dollars, in total for both provinces.

Block B includes the execution of 20.40 km of the main line of the trunk aqueduct, to Pumping Station No. 2 and more than 44 km of branches, including the towns of Barrancas and Gessler. Finally, the distribution centers of Arocena, Gessler, Larrechea, San Fabián and Barrancas are being built, providing them with water ready for consumption.