SEPI Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales

The new branch has been inaugurated by the President of the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha, Mr. José María Barreda and by the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Ms. Elena Espinosa

The President of the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha and the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food have inaugurated this evening the new headquarters of the branch for Castilla-La Mancha of the Grupo Tragsa. After the inauguration ceremony, and the visit to the new facilities, took the floor the Chairman of the Grupo Tragsa, Mr. Rafael Jaén, the Chairman of SEPI, Mr. Enrique Martínez Robles, the Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Ms. Elena Espinosa and by the President of the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha, Mr. José María Barreda.

At the ceremony were also present the Mayor of Toledo, Mr. Emiliano García-Page, the Head of the Farming Department of the regional government, Ms. Mercedes Gómez, the Head of the Environment and Rural Development Department of the regional government, Mr. José Luis Martínez Guijarro, the Speaker of the Parliamentary Commission for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Mr. Alejandro Alonso, the General Secretary for Farming and Food, Mr. Josep Puxeu, the Government's Representative in Castilla-La Mancha, Mr. Máximo Díaz-Cano and the Chairman of FEGA, Mr. Fernando Miranda, as well as the highest officers of the Central Government, the regional government and those of the Grupo Tragsa.

The new building , in which a total of 135 persons will work, has a total built surface of 2,058 square meters, which are distributed between a 818 square meters land floor, on which is located the Toledo's Provincial Delegation, 1,240 square meters for the Regional Representative and a 640 square meters parking lot. The new facilities will provide support for an organization which will coordinate both the actions and the management of all the activities which the Administration will trust to the Group in this autonomous region.

In this way, the 3 companies which make up the Group, as well as the services which they provide, will be concentrated in the same space, which will allow to increase the efficiency and the results of the work carried out.

The Chairman of the Grupo Tragsa, Mr. Rafael Jaén, highlighted in his speech that the Branch of Castilla-La Mancha was that which provided the largest production volume to the Group during the financial year 2006 (137 Million Euros, 14.2% of total production). Besides, the Chairman also advanced that the estimate for the end of the financial year 2007 amounts to about 169 Million Euros, which means a 23.5% increase. Of that amount, about 59.0% corresponds to contracts made by the regional government of Castilla La Mancha, and 30.1% to works requested by the Central Administration.

Mr. Rafael Jaén also made mention to the latest most significant activities which the Branch of Castilla-La Mancha has carried out, such as the use and management of Parques Nacionales and others such as Cabañeros, Tablas de Daimiel and Quintos de Mora, the recovery of the saltworks at Saelices de la Sal in Guadalajara, the creation of the Quijote's route, the continuation of the firewood prevention campaign, the hydrological works made for the different region's valleys and the modernization and the building of irrigation facilities, such as that at La Sagra-Torrijos, the restoration of the Convent of Merced at Ciudad Real and the archeological parks of Carranque, Segóbriga, Alarcos, Tolmo de Minateda and Recópolis.

Finally, the Chairman of the Grupo Tragsa stated the building at Illescas of the Machinery Park for this Branch, which will provide service to the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, which will entail, according to Mr. Rafael Jaén, 'a clear commitment on the part of the Grupo Tragsa with the future of the region of Castilla-La Mancha which, doubtless, will mean the generation of new jobs and the promotion of the regional economy' .

The Grupo Tragsa is made up by 3 state-owned companies: Tragsa, Tragsatec and Tragsega. Its workforce is more than 17,000 workers strong, and it acts as the Administration's tool. Most of its social capital is in the hands of the state-owned holding company Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), while other shareholders are the Grupo el Fondo de Garantía Agraria, which belongs to the Ministry for Farming, Fisheries and Food, the Dirección General del Patrimonio del Estado, which belongs to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the regional governments of Navarra, Cantabria, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja, Murcia, Galicia, Andalucía and in the near future, Aragón.