Airports want to renegotiate BRL 5 billion with the government – 04/24/2023 – Panel SA

The concessionaires that manage six of the busiest airports in the country want to renegotiate around R$ 5 billion in grants due with discounts of up to 10%, paying the rest with precatorios.

Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) has already said no, but, according to technicians, at least three of them —Galeão (RJ), Guarulhos (SP) and Confins (MG)— still insist.

Precatories are Union debt securities with final court judgments that are paid by the Treasury, respecting a queue.

In the market, it is common for a company to buy or sell these papers with discounts, which can reach 30%.

These negotiations gained strength because, at the end of 2021, a constitutional amendment sanctioned by Congress allowed the use of these titles in payment of concession commitments (such as the grant), in the purchase of public properties at auction, and in the settlement of tax debts with the Unity.

For companies, this is a good deal because, with the discounts on the purchase and sale of precatorios, they end up disbursing less money when paying off debts with the government.

Anac technicians claim that the companies that won the first three concession rounds are evaluating the renegotiation with a discount: Inframérica, which administers the airports in Brasília (DF) and Natal (RN); RIOGaleão (Galeão, RJ); GRU Airport (Guarulhos, SP); and BH Airport (Confins, MG).

Still according to them, Guarulhos, Galeão and Confins remain firm in an attempt to obtain discounts of up to 10% in the amounts, if they anticipate future payments – provided they can pay the difference with precatorios.

In practice, with all the discounts involved in this operation (the renegotiation and securities purchased on the market), the amount owed by companies could fall from R$ 5 billion to R$ 3.1 billion.

According to the government’s calculations, this would save up to R$ 300 million in the cash of these companies, improving the financial situation, which has been tight since the beginning of the concession.

In the pandemic, they obtained other benefits: postponement of the payment of grant installments, in addition to the financial rebalancing resulting from the frustration of demand due to social isolation.

Anac considers that the current request violates the public interest. The concessionaires say they are protected by the Constitution, which has not established limits for receiving precatories.

Julio Wiziack with diego felix

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