The government of Argentine President Javier Milei proceeded this Monday with the bidding process for the Paraná and Paraguay rivers waterway, the country's main export fluvial route. The decision, published in the Official Gazette, approved the technical pre-qualification of two international consortia and scheduled the opening of economic proposals for this Tuesday.
The finalist consortia are the one formed by Belgian Jan De Nul and Argentine Servimagnus — the current operator of the waterway — and the also Belgian Dredging, Environmental & Marine Engineering NV (DEME).
The National Agency for Ports and Navigation (ANPYN) reported that both companies submitted observations to the technical opinion of the Evaluation Commission, but considered that these statements "do not have an impugnatory nature" because the firms "did not comply with the corresponding guarantee of challenge required." The agency added that, after analyzing the questions, it concluded that they "do not bring new technical elements" and do not justify "modifying the valuation or the assigned classifications," ratifying "in all its terms the conclusions reached" in the evaluation minutes.
Last Friday, the Prosecution Office for Administrative Investigations (PIA) had warned about "serious and evident irregularities" in the bidding, within the scope of a judicial investigation into the concession driven by the Milei government. The warning, however, was not enough to halt the progress of the bidding process.