K-Water’s changing Angat position worries gov’t

Manila Bulletin 
By Myrna M. Velasco 
Published: May 27, 2013 
The government agencies involved in the transaction closing for the privatized Angat hydropower plant are raising worries that the “change in the negotiating stance” of winning bidder Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water) may render the deal a “death blow.”
Highly placed sources from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) disclosed that in the discussions firming up the water protocol for the facility, K-Water had sent its in-house lawyer Kenneth Lee and director Ki-Sung Hwang to be its negotiators, but Lee reportedly “opposed all previous agreements that government had previously firmed up with them (K-Water).”
In another meeting with the Department of Finance (DOF) last week which should have cemented arrangements on the settlement of the Angat plant’s P330-million real property tax arrears, “talks have not also progressed because of Lee’s offensive display of superiority,” the source added.
In the past three years, K-Water had always designated Jiheun Yun as its representative for its Philippine business and primarily in negotiations for the Angat plant’s transactions. So far, according to PSALM officials, “talks were going well those times, until we were surprised with K-Water’s new representatives.”
A source privy to the ongoing series of discussions averred “we have to know what has been happening here. Just when we’re about to close, K-Water suddenly sent somebody who does not have comprehensive background of the transaction and lacks the technical competence to ascertain the merits of previous discussions we’ve had on the Angat privatization.”
To fast-track PSALM’s issuance of the certificate of effectivity, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, who also sits as chairman of the PSALM board reportedly instructed the team of PSALM president Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr. to address the “impeding factors” raised by K-Water leading to the closing of the transaction.
With the COE issuance, the government or asset-seller PSALM can finally call on the payment of the $440.88-million winning offer of K-Water for the 218-MW component of the Angat hydropower plant.   source