São Paulo The pension fund for Paraguayan workers at the Itaipu Power Plant kept G$100.692 billion (around R$86 million) at Ueno Bank, an institution liquidated by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) on Tuesday (3) and the pivot of the political crisis in the neighboring country.
The value was presented in a statement published by the fund itself, called Cajubi (Caja Paraguaya de Jubilaciones y Pensiones del Personal de la Itaipú Binacional), last Wednesday (4), after the liquidation of the bank. According to the document, the amount is equivalent to 2.8% of its financial and non-financial assets.
"This participation reflects a limited exposure within the total assets managed by Caixa and a diversified portfolio between different types of assets and institutions", states the note.
The Itaipu power plant is the largest in the world in terms of installed capacity and is responsible for generating around 17% of the electrical energy consumed in Brazil and Paraguay. The two countries share the management of the site under a treaty signed in 1973.
On the Brazilian side, according to a note sent to the report, there are no resources invested in Ueno.
Itaipu Binacional stated that financial investments on the Brazilian margin follow internal standards with security, liquidity and profitability criteria. The text also points out that resource management observes the competencies defined separately for each side of the plant.
The application of resources destined for retirements is yet another aspect that brings the Ueno case closer to the Master scandal.
Last year, a survey carried out by Folha showed that Brazilian pension institutes, responsible for paying pensions to municipal and state employees, invested R$1.8 billion in financial bills from Banco Master without guarantee from the FGC (Credit Guarantee Fund) between October 2023 and December 2024. Some of these investments are being investigated.
Cajubi also states that the choice to invest in the entity was based on technical and objective criteria, based on financial indicators, public information and BCP regulatory parameters. The entity says it spares no effort to recover the assets of those affiliated with the fund.
The report contacted the fund by email this Friday (6), at 3 pm, asking how this recovery of assets will take place, but received no response. At 5pm another contact was made, also with no response.
A previous statement from the bank, dated November 3, states that the payment of retirement and pensions remains guaranteed. The transfers will be carried out normally and the official dates of the institutional calendar are maintained, according to the text.
The fund also stated that it has a solid and diversified investment portfolio with a structure to ensure the continuity of payments.
Despite minimizing the impact on grades, the fund's institutional balance sheets show an increase in contributions made to Ueno Bank.
At the beginning of 2025, the fund maintained G$26.312 billion (around R$22.5 million) invested directly in the bank's Ahorro Deposit Certificates (CDA). At the end of that year, the entity's position in the banking institution's securities had already reached G$41.3 billion (around R$35.3 million).
The amount of G$100.692 billion (around R$86 million) revealed in Wednesday's statement shows that the balance at the institution has more than doubled. This is an increase of 143.8% compared to the end of 2025 and 282.6% compared to the beginning of that year.
The November note, however, does not specify which types of products these more than G$100 billion were allocated to on the settlement date.
The balance sheet also records that the entity held another G$16.391 billion (around R$14 million) in debt bonds from the Vázquez Group (private fixed income securities through which the fund lends money to the company in exchange for interest, equivalent to debentures), controller of Ueno Bank.
Cajubi called retirees and pensioners to a meeting on Tuesday (10), at 6pm, in Ciudad del Este. The topic will be the situation of funds at Ueno and the entity's actions.
The plant's management assured that the hydroelectric plant's operations continue normally. The crisis surrounding the neighboring bank, according to the note, did not cause any impact on the production and supply of electricity.
The Paraguayan deposit guarantee fund covers up to G$228.3 million (around R$195 thousand) per depositor in each institution. The value of Cajubi is equivalent to around 441 times this ceiling.
