The auction for São Paulo’s ring road Rodoanel, delayed for 10 years, has a new date

Stalled for almost a decade, the 44-kilometer stretch of the Rodoanel, which is unfinished, is the last remaining stretch to complete the ring road around the São Paulo metropolitan region.

Scheduled for Tuesday 14, the bidding for the Rodoanel Norte is expected to receive proposals from at least three companies.

The project will be bid as a Public Private Partnership (PPP), in which the winner will have to complete the construction of the stretch and operate the highway for 31 years.

In 2012, the first work tender was held, divided into six lots, won by Mendes Junior, OAS, Acciona, and Construcap.

Due to delays, the contracts with the contractors were terminated between 2018 and 2019, with 25% of the construction still to be done.

The previous administration modeled the current project, which tried to bid on the PPP in 2022 but failed due to low private interest.

Over the past year, the team restructured the call for bids, increased the public contribution, and sought to mitigate contract risks.

XP is pointed out as a probable competitor in the dispute.

The financial group, which in 2022 won the concession for airports Campo de Marte (SP) and Jacarepaguá (RJ), should partner with two other engineering groups.

The Spanish Acciona is also cited as a strong candidate.

The group, which has an engineering arm, already has the concession to build and operate Line 6 of the São Paulo subway.

Another financial group that could dispute is Starboard, known for restructuring businesses in difficulty.

The information is from the newspaper Valor Econômico.

THE PROJECT

In all, R$3 billion (US$580 million) will be invested in the project. The State is willing to invest R$2 billion of the total.

The value, however, may decrease depending on the degree of competition.

This is because, in the competition, the winner will be whoever offers the biggest discount on the public disbursement.

The competition will offer a discount on the government’s annual payments of up to R$50 million.

If a 100% discount is reached at this stage, the biggest discount on the public contribution will apply, up to a maximum of R$1.45 billion.

One of the main concerns was the unfinished work.

The fear comes from the uncertainty about the real state of the structure built. In the new bid notice, the government added risk mitigation mechanisms, with the possibility of reviewing the executive projects.

Another change that brought more security was sharing the demand risk because of the new billing system that will be adopted – the “free flow”, in which the payment is electronic, without a toll plaza.

FORMER CONSTRUCTION COMPANY TRIES TO SUSPEND THE AUCTION

The auction is still facing a suspension attempt by Coesa, the former construction company OAS, one responsible for the work in the past.

The company is asking for a precautionary suspension of the public notice at the State Audit Court.

If the initiative is unsuccessful, it is preparing to go to court.

The company requests that the PPP include the obligation to pay eventual compensation to the construction company.

The fear is that, with the extinction of Dersa (the state-owned company that contracted the works in the past), the payment will not be made.

Coesa estimates that it has R$430 million to be received, which is still being discussed in arbitration.

Coesa has been under judicial reorganization since 2022 to restructure debts of R$5.5 billion.

The compensation would be used to pay creditors.

With information from Revista Oeste