Because the supply of office and commercial buildings has increased, and at the same time unemployment has also risen, in Costa Rica the directors of these properties foresee that next year the parties will have to renegotiate the contracts.
Data collected by Colliers International indicate that between June 2019 and the same month in 2020 the total inventory of commercial buildings increased by 1.5% from 1.16 million m2 to 1.18 million m2.
Millicom announced that it exercised its right to terminate the Share Purchase Agreement for the acquisition of Telefonica's operating subsidiary in the Central American country.
In Costa Rica, the state-owned electricity company ICE is evaluating the renegotiation of prices and conditions in power purchase contracts with private generation companies.
The adjustments planned by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) in contracts with private generators are based on the need to reduce costs and adapt prices and quantities purchased to current demand conditions and the availability of resources to generate energy.
In Costa Rica, a law project proposes to disable construction companies that do not comply with contracts with state entities for a period of five years.
The proposed law is analyzed by the Economic Affairs Committee of the Congress, and according to representatives of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT), if approved, the law would allow sanctioning construction companies that do not complete the works agreed with the State.
For the fourth time in three years, the Office of the Comptroller General has found deficiencies in the hiring process being run by the UNOPS and has annulled the award of a viaduct to the construction company MECO.
Through a statement, the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) announced that it has finalised the appeal filed by FCC Construcción América S.A.
The controversy generated by the UNOPS's decision to prevent access to files on the road works for which it is responsible has led the government to refrain from granting new projects in the future.
Possibly as a result of the refusal of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to make public the project files and the subsequent cancellation of contracts by the Comptroller General, the Ministry of Public Works has decided not to continue with the assistance of the international organization in future projects.
In the Legislative Assembly a bill is being discussed that would allow for hiring done by government entities not to require the endorsement of the Comptroller General of the Republic.
Bill 20.202 is an initiative of the General Comptroller of the Republic, which put forward a proposal with the aim of reducing the time and the bureaucracy involved in the review and subsequent endorsement of each contract.
In Costa Rica, the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic decided to cancel the contracts for two UNOPS road construction projects, after it decided to keep secret the files with the details of these contracts.
The decision by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to hide the details of the contracts for the two road construction projects assigned to it by the National Road Council (Conavo) cost state coffers dearly.
In Costa Rica, the state power company will have to pay $112 million to the contractor of the Chucás hydroelectric project, for "additional expenses that it authorized and then refused to recognize."
In the ruling issued by the International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CICA), to which the company Enel Green Power Costa Rica appealed to resolve a conflict that originated in 2015 due to an almost $148 millionincrease in the Chucás hydroelectric project, which has not yet been completed, it was established that Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) acted with "bad contractual faith".
Due to a delay and an exaggerated increase in the cost of the project, consideration is being given to termination of the contract for the construction of the new road to San Carlos and reallocation of the pending works through several separate contracts.
The contract to build the 29.7-kilometer stretch of road between Sifón, San Ramón, and La Abundancia, in San Carlos, was awarded more than 9 years ago to the company Sánchez Carvajal, at an initial cost of $61 million.Since then, the cost of the project has increased 250% to $213 million.
After several months of discussions, approval has finally been given to the Bank of Costa Rica to take full control of the construction project for the route between San José and San Ramón.
The financial structure and execution of the work will now be the responsibility of the Bank of Costa Rica (BCR), which was awarded the contract for administration of the trust.For four months the discussion revolved around the conflict of interest that could arise if full control was given to the BCR, delaying the start of works.
The project to be undertaken by Grupo Orosi in Puntarenas includes, in addition to the 18-kilometer pavement, the construction of stabilization walls and slope protection.
The National Highway Council announced that the contract with the company, which does not require endorsement as a direct contract, consists of carrying out the process of asphaltingthe 18-kilometer stretch between Guacimal and Santa Elena in Puntarenas.
For the fourth time the Comptroller has returned without having approved the contract for the construction of the new convention center, which in May was awarded to the construction company Edica for $32 million.
This time the Office of the Comptroller General of Colombia requested the Costa Rican Tourism Institute give a better justification for why they will use nearly $8 million from the $15 tax charged to tourists entering the country.
Rejecting the arguments put forward by three participants bidding for the construction work, the Comptroller has endorsed the contracts awarded to MECO, Hernán Solís and Quebradores del Sur.
The contract awarded to Constructora MECO is for $116 million, for Hernan Solis $76 million, and for Quebradores del Sur it is for more than $14 million. The timeframe for maintenance of the national road network is four years.
The Comptroller has finally endorsed the controversial contract with the Chinese company CHEC to expand 107 kilometers of Route 32 to the Caribbean, with a contribution of $395 million from the Asian government.
Three years after the Chinchilla administration started negotiating with the government of China to get the loan and after a lot of objections and questions throughout the process, finally the Comptroller General of the Republic has given the green light to the project, with the endorsement of the contract.