These will be discussed in turn in the following paragraphs.
The recent introduction of IPPs into less developed countries, such as Mexico, was making cautious progress. Even in the United States at that time, utilities were just becoming comfortable with risk-allocation issues related to IPPs. At about the same time sponsors were negotiating terms for the Chabei power project in China, the Termobarranquilla project in Colombia, the Dabhol project in India and the Paiton I project in Indonesia. The issues between the sponsors and the host countries were similar. Specifications in the host countries’ RFPs were not precise. The host countries did not have a clear understanding of how ownership relationships would work, how risks would be allocated among contract parties or other legal issues. Progress required trust to be developed on both sides of the negotiating table. The sponsors had to maintain the fundamentals of project contracts and project finance, while recognising that the host countries’ authorities had to protect their own countries’ assets and to be seen by their peers as negotiating smart deals.
When President Zedillo assumed power the top officials at the CFE were replaced and the new officials had to be brought up to speed. Continuity of many officials at lower levels aided this process.
The economic crisis following the devaluation of the peso in December 1994 temporarily rocked confidence in Mexico, which had restructured its foreign debt in the early 1990s and recently had come to be seen as one of the more stable economies in Latin America. With the bond markets unavailable, the sponsors looked for other sources of financing. This came in the form of loan commitments from US Eximbank and the IDB, and a syndicated commercial bank loan, as discussed above.
Political risk was evident in the United States as well. The US government was shut down
for two short periods in late 1995 as a result of domestic disagreements between the Republicandominated Congress and the Democratic administration of President Bill Clinton. This delayed negotiations between the project sponsors and one of the principal lenders, US Eximbank. Later, however, the debate over US Eximbank’s own reauthorisation did not put the project at risk because US Eximbank had already made a binding commitment to finance it.