Argentina Privatisation Puts AySA and Two Plants on Sale
ARGENTINA · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- What happened Argentina is selling the AySA water utility and state stakes in two thermal power plants this year.
- How much it wants The government is aiming for more than US$1 billion from this wave before the end of 2026.
- The dates Bids for AySA open on 15 September, moved back from 27 August by an economy ministry resolution.
- The catch The hydroelectric dams in the same programme are concessions rather than sales, so they sit outside that figure.
- Who is interested Grupo Roggio, businessman Mauricio Filiberti and Brazil’s Sabesp and Águas do Rio have all been named.
- What workers keep Employees retain 10% of AySA through Argentina’s shared-ownership scheme.
The number the government wants is public. What is less obvious is that the dams everyone talks about are not being sold at all.
Argentina has put a number on its Argentina privatisation drive. The government wants more than US$1 billion from this wave before the end of 2026.
Three assets carry most of that. They are the AySA water utility and state stakes in two thermal power plants.
The plants are Termoeléctrica Manuel Belgrano and Termoeléctrica José de San Martín. The state holds 65% of the first and 68.8% of the second.
Each is valued at roughly US$300 million. AySA is expected to raise about US$500 million.
The AySA Tender
AySA supplies water and sewerage to Buenos Aires and fourteen surrounding districts. Ninety percent of it is on offer.
Bids open on 15 September. The date moved back from 27 August under an economy ministry resolution signed in late August.
The concession runs thirty years with an optional ten more. The winner commits to just over US$15 billion of investment across that period.
Employees keep 10% through Argentina’s shared-ownership programme. That share is not for sale.
Who Is Circling
Grupo Roggio, one of Argentina’s large infrastructure contractors, has been named as interested. So has the businessman Mauricio Filiberti.
Two Brazilian water operators are also in the frame. They are Sabesp, the São Paulo state utility, and Águas do Rio.
Foreign interest in a domestic water monopoly is politically delicate in Argentina. AySA was privatised once before and taken back into state hands in 2006.
The Dams Are Not Being Sold
This is the part most coverage gets wrong. The hydroelectric complexes in the same programme are being concessioned, not sold.
Four are involved. Two of them are Futaleufu in Chubut and the Diamante system in Mendoza.
The others are Rio Hondo, on the Tucuman border, and a Tucuman group. That group covers El Cadillal, Escaba and Pueblo Viejo.
A concession transfers operation for a fixed term. Ownership stays with the state, and the asset returns at the end.
That is why the dams sit outside the US$1 billion figure. Counting them in would double-count a different kind of transaction.
The Wider Programme
Five Enarsa gas pipeline systems are also being concessioned. They include the Perito Moreno line, formerly named after Nestor Kirchner.
The ground-handling company Intercargo has been relaunched for sale with no base price. Its earlier attempt failed to attract a bid.
Longer-term targets are larger and structured differently. One programme runs to about US$2.3 billion across 2026 and 2027.
That wider list adds the Belgrano Cargas railway and a stake in the nuclear operator. It also includes YPF’s holding in the gas distributor Metrogas.
Those assets are harder to sell than a water utility. Each carries either a union structure or a regulatory question that buyers price carefully.
Who Runs It
The Argentina privatisation programme sits with the Agency for the Transformation of Public Enterprises. Diego Chaher heads it.
Its mandate was extended by two years in July 2026. Economy minister Luis Caputo signs the resolutions.
What to Watch
The first marker is 15 September. A tender that draws one bidder is a different story from one that draws four.
The second is the price the thermal plants actually fetch. Two assets valued at US$300 million each is an estimate, not a result.
The third is whether the concession model holds politically. Argentina has reversed a water privatisation before.
The Argentina privatisation drive is also an election-year policy. A change of majority in Congress would change what is possible.
More: Argentina news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Argentina’s privatisation drive aim to raise?
The government is targeting more than US$1 billion before the end of 2026 from the AySA water utility and state stakes in two thermal power plants. Wider programmes running into 2027 are larger.
Are the hydroelectric dams being sold?
No. The four hydroelectric complexes are being concessioned for a fixed term rather than sold, so ownership stays with the state and they sit outside the US$1 billion figure.
When do bids for AySA open?
On 15 September 2026, moved back from 27 August by an economy ministry resolution. Ninety percent of the utility is on offer and employees keep 10%.
Sources: La Nación, BAE Negocios, Diario Rio Negro, Boletín Oficial, Infobae, Rio Times.
In depth
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