The executive has authorized the increase in toll rates. They will be in two lots: May and August. While the average increase is 110%, there are some cases where the increase it is 150%.
The tariff adjustment, which was anticipated by clarion February has its own peculiarity. The executive branch sought to take the concession away from the two major toll companies: Autopistas del Sol and Grupo Concesionarios del Oeste. Both have the Spanish Abertis as the controlling shareholder.
National Highway sues these companies and he wants control of the companies. 6 months ago, the government filed a lawsuit against Autopistas del Sol and Grupo Concesionario del Oeste di Abertis. The National Executive maintains that the extension of these concessions – agreed in the previous management – presents irregularities. However, the Presidency has now authorized increases in the tolls paid on the Pan-American and Acceso Oeste highways, the two corridors managed by this group.
The go-ahead for the increases fueled suspicions of “negotiations in progress” to unblock the judicial dispute. A recognized interlocutor in the sector supports this premise, although the Government denies it.
Abertis, the Spanish company which is a shareholder of Autopistas del Sol and Grupo Concesionario del Oeste, is pwilling to dialogue. The company usually requires the tolls it charges to be recomposed based on inflation and the conditions that appear in the concession contract.
Now they have achieved an improvement that averages 110%, but can reach 150%. A car that paid $60 to pass during off-peak hours (at Debenedetti and Márquez, for example), you’ll have to pay $100 from May. And $150 from August. If so, the fix is above average.
The increase was originally scheduled for March. The highways had to wait longer than commented in the industry. In return, they take a recomposition in line with inflation over the past 12 months. In any case, they still bring unfilled requests for increases from previous years.
“I don’t think if the fight (between government and business) was that fierce they would authorize a hike. It could be a luck of ‘impasse’ for a negotiation”plays an entrepreneur in the sector.
As of February 2022 both highways were cleared with a 26.5% increase. It was lower than 2021 inflation (it was almost double). And that was after nearly three years with no raises.
From December 2022, Autopistas de Buenos Aires (Aubasa) –which manages route 2 and other provincial roads (11, 56, 63 and 74) tolls increased by 90%. In March it was 35% more. The highways that operate in the city (25 de Mayo, Perito Moreno, Illia) also applied a 45% recomposition in March and now another 40% will arrive in May. “They cannot authorize increases on the provincial highways, on the city ones and not on the two with the highest traffic in the country”, specifies the same person who sees the private sector and the State closer to sitting down and talking than arguing. “The fight does not benefit anyone. The legal issue must be resolved or at the very least it will not be explored”, he says, even if he asks not to be quoted.
A threat of expropriation to curb the negative inflation data. The Government has already tried this method three times so that the agenda and public opinion are not dominated by the high number of increases in the cost of living: demonizing a privatization concessionaire, possibly a foreign one.
The first inflation figures from Massa’s tenure as economy minister were released on 14 September. The former deputy had assumed office in the first days of August. During that month, inflation was 7% a month. However, on the day this information was disclosed, the government had prepared a criminal complaint against Abertis, the Autopistas del Sol concessionaire.
The executive power oppose the renegotiation that that company did with the administration of Mauricio Macri. And although he had been investigating for some time, a press conference was held on September 14 between President Alberto Fernández and the Minister of Public Works, Gabriel Katopodis. The same day the INDEC data was released.
The same company will now receive an improvement in its rates of 50% in May and 40% in August, which gives a cumulative rate of 110%. It remains to go through a citizen consultation process.
The threat of expropriation method was repeated twice. The victim was Edesur, with the repeated cuts of him. Inflation in January was 6% and the government panicked. It was Tuesday February 14th. Over the previous weekend, and also the day before the data was released, Edesur had power outages for more than 185,000 homes. More than enough for the political wing of the Frente de Todos to come forward to demand the expropriation of the company and the revocation of the concession.
The same happened with the February data (6.6%), which generated a new attack by the Executive Power on Edesur. This time he had the excuse of numerous blackouts due to the heat wave in the first half of March. A controller has been appointed in Edesur, who is Jorge Ferraresi, mayor of Avellaneda.
Source: Clarin
