Air-e responds to scrutiny over $1 trillion financing deal: “Not a blank cheque or immediate payout”

Air-e sought to narrow the interpretation of a financing agreement that prompted scrutiny from Colombia's attorney general's office. Special agent Jaime Mesa Buitrago said the deal with China National Machinery Exports and Imports Corporation, known as CMC, does not by itself create a 1 trillion-peso debt.

The framework allows financing of up to 1 trillion pesos, but Air-e said that figure does not represent an immediate transfer of money. Under the arrangement, CMC would prepare designs, detailed budgets and execution schedules for individual works. A technical committee would then decide whether to approve each investment before any corresponding funds were released.

“This is not a blank cheque or money that the Chinese company has transferred to us; it is simply a financing framework that establishes the rules,” Mesa said at a news conference in Barranquilla. He said the agreement creates a process for project-by-project disbursements rather than an automatic financial obligation for the full amount.

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This is not a blank cheque or money that the Chinese company has transferred to us; it is simply a financing framework that establishes the rules.

The explanation followed concern from Attorney General Gregorio Eljach about the circumstances surrounding the signing, particularly its timing near the end of Mesa's period as Air-e's special agent. The attorney general's office requested information to assess the agreement's legal, financial and asset-related terms and its possible impact on the company.

Air-e also disputed the suggestion that negotiations emerged suddenly. The company said discussions began with a confidentiality agreement on Jan. 28, 2025, followed by a memorandum of understanding on Oct. 3 and an initial work record on Dec. 29. Talks were later suspended during Air-e's financial crisis and resumed after the national government announced it would assume the company's obligations to power-generation firms, a move Air-e said helped restore confidence.

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Under this contract, the Chinese company will design the works with its detailed budget and execution schedule so that the technical committee can approve the investment, after which the corresponding disbursements would be made project by project.