Auction of Brazilian Airports Indicates New Profile in Concessions

03/17/2017 - 13h33

Without the presence of any of the Brazilian companies involved in the country's Lava Jato operation, the government auctioned four airports in capital cities. Germany's Fraport acquired the airports in Fortaleza and Porto Alegre, Vinci, of France, the Salvador airport, and Switzerland's Zurich, the Florianópolis airport.

The total obtained, including the winning offers plus the contributions to be paid along the 30-year concessions (25 in the case of Porto Alegre), is R$ 3.7 billion (US$ 1.2 billion), above the minimum expected of R$ 3 billion (US$ 965 million).

In July, R$ 1.46 billion (US$ 469 million) will be paid when the contracts are signed.

The auction took place on Thursday, March 16, and was dominated by foreign companies - a sharp contrast in comparison with previous actions, which included Brazilian construction companies such as Engevix, Carioca and Odebrecht, currently investigated in the Lava Jato operation, as well as CCR. Among its partners, CCR has Camargo Corrêa and Andrade Gutierrez, also targeted by the investigation.

Despite the lower number of competitors (three) in comparison with the previous airport public tenders (11 groups in 2012 and five in 2013), Brazilian President Michel Temer said that the country recovered "credibility in the international scenario."

This time, state-owned company Infraero will not be a partner in the management, which was mandatory in the previous auctions. Anac, Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency, says that the private management will transport 59% of the air passengers in the country in ten airports.

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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