The governor of Espírito Santo, Renato Casagrande, sent two bills to the Legislative Assembly that aim to increase the competitiveness of Espírito Santo. One of the projects deals with the reduction of the ICMS tax rate for navigation fuel from 17% to 12%; the other is the creation of the State Law of the Free Gas Market. The president of Companhia Docas do Espírito Santo (CODESA), Julio Castiglioni, recalled the importance of reducing the ICMS tax rate for navigation fuel. “We have a great vocation for coastal navigation. To be competitive, we need to make fuel cheaper, so we are very happy with this proposal that comes at a time when we are discussing the privatization of the Company,” he said. For the governor, these are two important projects because they make Espírito Santo competitive in a national and international way: “We do not have a completely adequate infrastructure that will lead us to be competitive in logistics. Therefore, we need investments in ports. We have the concession of CODESA in debate, anxious for the Port of Imetame to start and the other ports as well, which are all important to us. The dredging of the Port of Vitória has increased the capacity of incoming ships, but we know that it has its limitations. By resolving the issue of navigation oil, we can seek more quality and we can focus on cabotage shipping,” said Casagrande. The Secretary of State for Finance, Rogelio Pegoretti, recalled that coastal shipping is a mode of transport with great growth potential in Brazil and Espírito Santo. “Today, fuel represents, on average, 35% of the cost of a coastal vessel’s voyage. Reducing the rate is an opportunity to make our products cheaper in other states and make inputs cheaper in Espírito Santo,” he commented.
Fonte: Datamar News