Yesterday, Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon has met with Ministry of Finance Budget Director Gal Hershkowitz in an effort to move forward the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) communications infrastructure project. A meeting between the tenders committee and the Government Companies Authority will be held today to discuss several incentives in the project following comments made by investors interested in the project.
The current situation is that there is a clear tendency to grant incentives, since Kahlon and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would like to find an investor before elections take place. As a result, serious attempts have been made to reduce the requirements for investors so that they can participate in the tender.
There are several levels of incentives under consideration, and it is likely that there will be several rounds of talks with investors before the tenders committee sets the final conditions and publishes the tender. The incentives under discussion include extending the length of the time over which the project will be spread, trying to find a way to reduce the price that the IEC will charge the project for work and for use of its infrastructure, and reducing its part in the project, thus increasing the investors' stake.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2012
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