Brazil rolls out major concessions drive

OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2016. Brazil's newly ratified transition government has revived plans to offer 25 infrastructure and logistics concessions in 2017-18.

The campaign includes 21 auctions in 2017 and another four in 2018. Draft contracts for the 2017 tenders should be released before year-end.

The first phase of the seaports auction includes concessions to operate a fuel terminal in the northern state of Para and a grain terminal in Rio de Janeiro state.

Four airport concessions will be auctioned in the first quarter of 2017, including airports in Salvador, Bahia state; Recife, Pernambuco state; Florianopolis, Santa Catarina state; and Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state. The government had originally planned to hold the concession auctions in December 2016.

The auction list also covers two toll highway leases and three railway concessions, in addition to oil and gas exploration blocks, and power distribution, sanitation and mining assets.

Shedding state-run assets is a centerpiece of President Michel Temer's strategy to lift Brazil out of a deep economic recession.

Temer officially assumed the presidency following the 31 August impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, who had launched her own comprehensive multi-phase infrastructure campaign in the months before her second four-year term was cut short. The few auctions that made it off paper were met with lukewarm interest.

Investors had complained of capped returns and short consultation periods of around 45 days. Today, Temer said he does not plan to introduce a cap and would extend the consultation period to 100 days.

Temer will head to New York later this month on a roadshow to highlight the investment opportunities.