Energy distribution companies, belonging to Brazil's state-owned Eletrobras, will be sold before the end of next year, said Paulo Pedrosa, the Minister of Mines and Energy, on Friday at a press conference.

The companies involved will be Eletrobras' distribution arms in the northern states of Acre, Alagoas, Amazonas, Goias, Piaui, Rondonia and Roraima.

This week saw a tender fail for the sale of Eletrobras' distributor in Goias, Cel-G, due to a lack of interest but Pedrosa attributed this to problems with the terms of the tender.

The minister added this would be remedied with another tender to be carried out before the end of 2016.

Pedrosa added that he was optimistic about the sale process, not just for the distributors, but for other Eletrobras assets.

"BNDES (Brazil's national development bank) cannot be, nor is capable of being, the only player in financing the energy sector," he said.

Pedrosa added that divesting its distribution companies and bringing in better management would help Eletrobras guarantee electrical supply to all the country in a better way.

Source : XINHUA