A civil court in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais approved the judicial recovery plan proposed by the iron ore and pellet producer Samarco.
The judicial recovery was requested in November 2021, with debts estimated at $9.7 billion, resulting from the collapse of the Samarco’s Fundão rejects dam in 2015, which resulted in 19 deaths and a massive environmental accident.
Only recently the plan was approved by Samarco and its creditors, and the approval of the judicial administrators was granted on 28 August 2023.
Under the plan, the original debt of $9.7 billion was reduced to $3.7 billion, with a discount of 25 percent in the debts of financial institutions, while the workers of Samarco and creditors of small and mid-sized companies will receive the payments in their entirety.
The civil court declared that, due to the complexity of the process, Samarco will remain under judicial recovery for two years. Samarco is controlled by Vale and BHP.