Privatization of Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A.
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The National Government, through Decree 67/2025, has authorized the complete privatization of Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A., the company responsible for operating the Belgrano, San Martín, and Urquiza railroads. The three lines will be tendered separately, with seven tenders for each line to encourage competition and attract new players. Belgrano Cargas y Logística S.A. currently manages 37% of the railroad cargo transportation market.
The Agency for the Transformation of Public Companies expects to have the bidding documents ready by May, with a three-month period for interested parties to submit their bids. Following a month of analysis by the official agency, the results should be announced by September or October of the current year.
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Privatization of Transener
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The National Government announced that it will seek to divest its participation in “Compañía de Transporte de Energía Eléctrica en Alta Tensión (Transener), the main high voltage electric power transmission company in the country.
Currently, the State's participation is held by Citelec S.A., which owns 51% of Transener's Class A shares.
Transener's infrastructure comprises nearly 12,400 kilometers of transmission lines, in addition to the 6,228 kilometers of lines operated by its subsidiary, Empresa de Transporte de Energía Eléctrica por Distribución Troncal de la Provincia de Buenos Aires S.A. (Transba S.A.).
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Privatization of Argentina's Highways
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The National Government has launched an initiative to privatize national highways. This initiative, called the "Federal Concessions Network," aims to improve infrastructure and decrease government spending.
Decree 28/2025, published in the Official Gazette on January 15, 2025, outlines the plan to tender sections of the national road network over a one-year period. These tenders will grant toll concessions to private entities, allowing them to build, operate and provide services to users on these roads. The first public hearing is scheduled on February 25, 2025.
The sections to be privatized include parts of the “Road Corridor 18”, currently managed by Caminos del Río Uruguay (Crusa). These include: (i) National Route 12: from Zárate to Ceibas and from Ceibas to Gualeguay; (ii) National Route 14: from Ceibas to Paso de los Libres; (iii) National Route 135: from Colón to General Artigas; (iv) National Route A-015: from Concordia to the Salto Grande Dam, (v) National Route 117: from Paso de los Libres to Agustín P. Justo and from Agustín P. Justo to the international border between Argentina and Brazil; and (vi) National Route 174: from Rosario to Victoria.
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From Hotels to Duty Free: All Service Areas at border crossings will be private
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The National Government will grant a concession for the service lands adjacent to the border crossing points, which will be managed by private companies that will have to make the investment to improve, conserve and exploit the area.
The Santo Tomé and Paso de los Libre customs zone, both located in Corrientes, were officially put out to tender. Iguazú, Uspallata and additional locations will be tendered soon.
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New Tenders are coming...
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The National Energy Department is preparing to launch key tenders referring to:
- New Energy Generation: A tender for electricity generation at critical nodes under a new private contracting model between private parties.
- Transmission Lines: High-voltage transmission projects will be tendered, with companies securing financing for the construction and operation of the lines.
- Storage Centers: Up to 500 MW of power storage will be tendered in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA) to improve short-term electricity capacity.
- Hydroelectric Plants: On March 5, the Energy Secretariat will launch a tender for the maintenance and operation of the Comahue hydroelectric plants, which produce 10% of the country's electricity. Their 30-year concessions expired in 2022 and have been extended twice.
The Undersecretary of Electric Energy, CAMMESA's technicians and officials from other related government agencies are drafting the bidding documents and the model contract with the intention of officially launching the bidding process during the next months.
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Bidding of Mining Areas in San Juan, Argentina
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The Provincial Institute of Mining Explorations and Exploitations (“IPEEM” after its Spanish acronym) opened the public bidding for mining areas in Iglesia and Calingasta departments.
The call for bids is for the exploration with exploitation option under contract at risk of six (6) mining areas:
- Iglesia: Area 3 (Marianela), Area 10 (Girasol), and Area 11 (Arroyo de los Amarillos).
- Calingasta: Area 13 (Marisa I), Area 14 (ITATÍ, YATZIL, Rincones de Araya, Calderón-Calderoncito), and Area 15 (Margaritas).
The bidding documents will be available for acquisition at IPEEM's headquarters until March 25, 2025 at a price of USD 5,000.
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The sale of Telefónica Argentina has been reactivated
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Telefónica has reignited the sale process of its Argentinian operations. The parent company in Madrid was contacted by Argentine and foreign investors potentially interested in buying its unit in Argentina.
Telefónica, which entered Argentina in 1990 after the privatization of Entel, is now a leading cellular telephony and broadband provider under the Movistar brand. With over 10,000 employees, the company currently serves more than 20 million customers.
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The Private Initiatives Database is created - First initiatives are coming…
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On January 16, 2025, Resolution No. 11/2025 of the Ministry of Economy was published, through which the Private Initiatives Database was created, in accordance with the Private Initiatives Regime.
Furthermore, Decree No. 54/2025, issued on January 31, 2025, establishes that the Private Initiative presented by Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS), declared of National Public Interest by Decree No. 1060 of 2024, will be governed by means of freely negotiated contracts, related to the transportation capacity for the construction or expansion of the Perito Francisco Pascasio Moreno Pipeline (formerly Néstor Kirchner Pipeline), with the approval of the Ministry of Economy.
The plan includes: (i) increasing capacity by 14 million m³/day; and (ii) upgrading two compressor plants and building three new ones, enhancing gas transport from Tratayén (Neuquén) to Salliqueló (Buenos Aires). The project is incorporated into ENARSA’s concession and will follow a contractual framework for gas transport capacity reservation.
This decree reinforces public-private collaboration in Argentina’s energy infrastructure development.
For further information, please refer to news@pagbam.com, call (54-11) 4114-3000 or get in touch with us via WhatsApp.
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