TCU must approve billionaire renegotiation of concessions – 06/13/2023 – Panel SA

The judgment of the consultation made by the government to the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) on the possibility of reversing the requests for re-bidding for the review of the current contracts will take place next Wednesday (21) and, according to the majority of the plenary, should be released with some conditions.

The date was defined between the president of the court, Bruno Dantas, and minister Vital do Rêgo, rapporteur of the case. A few weeks ago, four ministers —Rui Costa (Casa Civil), Jorge Messias (AGU), Renan Filho (Transport) and Márcio França (Ports and Airports)— were with Dantas asking for priority in responding to the government’s consultation.

With the expected approval, the government will unlock R$ 100 billion in investments by renegotiating contracts with companies that asked to return the concession to the government.

One of the TCU technicians responsible for analyzing the case in court said that the current legislation does not allow the withdrawal of a request for re-bidding when it is formalized. However, another technician stated that there is such a possibility.

Given the different possibilities for interpreting the law, the tendency is for the court to approve the renegotiation of contracts with restrictions, which are still being defined.

For the majority of the council, it is more advantageous for the Union —and for taxpayers— that the contracts are renegotiated.

The ministers’ assessment is that devolution would leave the Union with no revenue (from grants), with less investment in concessions and with the responsibility of administering each concession for at least three years, the deadline for a new auction to be scheduled.

Viracopos airport is the most emblematic case. Previously in difficulties, the concessionaire recovered, but demanded contractual adjustments, alleging non-compliance with clauses by the Union, which did not expropriate an area around the airport where the concessionaire would build a hotel complex to earn extraordinary revenue.

Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) says that the land would be released as expropriations were carried out and that the company was aware of this condition.

Technicians who participate in the discussions of the cases at the TCU say that the Minister of Transport is ready to submit to the court four requests for cancellation of road bids followed by renegotiation.

With Diego Felix

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