Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday 17 June 2019 in a São Paulo court. The group is seeking to restructure 51 billion reais (US$13 billion) of its overall debt, which allegedly reaches up to 98.5 billion reais (US$25.3 billion), a move that would become Latin America’s largest-ever in-court debt restructuring. The procedure would allow the construction giant to continue operating while granting a six-month period to settle with its creditors.
Founded in 1944 in the northern state of Bahía, Odebrecht, which employed 180,000 people five years ago, faces a string of financial difficulties since the uncovering of the high-profile corruption scheme known as Lava Jato (‘Operation Car Wash’). According to the US Justice Department, between 2004 and 2014, Odebrecht allegedly paid around US$788 million in bribes to governments in Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Dominican Republic and eight other countries to receive state contracts. This includes US$92 million paid mainly to Dominican government officers to expedite contract work for the Brazilian company.
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Latino USA
19 June 2019