Justice is investigating ‘alleged overpricing in the purchase of 20 Brazilian Embraer aircraft to be added to the fleet of Aerolineas Argentinas’.

The federal Judge Sergio Torres “received new evidence that ratify the suspicions of overpricing in the operation with Brazil.”

Juan Pablo Schiavi, Secretary of Transport, added to this issue saying that “This is a country-country operation between two state enterprises, and it was done with the amounts that should be and was very convenient for us.”

Aerolineas Argentinas, by order of Judge Torres was signed earlier this month by the research of ‘alleged’ overpricings for the value of five million dollars for each airplane that is part of the investigation.

Lawyer Ricardo Monner Sans made the submission of a written paper which ‘expands the information on the operation and is estimated that the overpricings reached between 68 and 122 million in total’.

Presidents Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, met in Brasilia, where signed in November ‘the contract for 700 million dollars’.

Schiavi told a news media that “We got funding for 85% of the total $ 700 million demanded by the operation, at an annual rate of 6%, which is impossible to achieve with another operator under the same conditions” .

And said that “these planes aims to recover the corporate customer segment, that´s why the cost is slightly higher than the base price.

He added that “We purchased 20 Embraer 190 aircraft with which we will replace the MD of Austral, we will receive nine of them in 2010, the first one in July, and the other eleven in 2011.

“The operation is the most convenient and advantageous, and is supported by the relationship between Argentina and Brazil,” and that “the majority is funded by the National State Bank of Economic and Social Development (BNDES) of Brazil.”