Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
5 min of reading 
0 comments 
Equipment purchased to reduce public expenses remained non-operational for years in Mato Grosso do Sul, was eventually sold at auction with only one bid, and was acquired by a businessman linked to a company that already holds a million-dollar contract for road paving and maintenance with the city hall.
The City Hall of Rio Brilhante, in Mato Grosso do Sul, sold for R$ 851 thousand an asphalt plant acquired with public funds for R$ 900 thousand in 2021, which, as revealed by Campo Grande News, never went into operation since the purchase announced by the municipal administration.
Acquired by Avante Usinagem de Asfalto Ltda, the equipment was transferred to a company linked to businessman Bruno Cezar de Souza Trindade, who also owns Avance Construtora, a company that holds a contract of R$ 16.5 million with the city hall.
Still during the administration of Mayor Lucas Centenaro Foroni, the administration announced the purchase of the plant as an alternative to increase the municipality’s autonomy in paving works and reduce expenses with road maintenance over the following years.
-
Brazil can leap in the economy and become a world power: Bank of America sees the country as the main emerging market outside China, cites $11 trillion available in the US, a record flow of $96 billion, and the best economic moment since 2011.
-
JBS confirms a million-dollar factory in a city with only 2,600 inhabitants: the new farm will have an investment of R$ 75 million, 24 giant barns, operations with 230,000 birds, and an impressive production of 48 million fertile eggs per year.
-
Petrobras announces R$ 37 billion in São Paulo until 2030, focusing on refining, gas, biofuels, and logistics, with Replan at the center of investments to expand S-10 diesel, reduce imports, and strengthen the infrastructure of the Port of Santos in the coming years in the state of São Paulo.
-
Lotofácil 3686 surprises by awarding three simple bets made with just 15 numbers, showing how R$ 3.50 tickets yielded R$ 466,000 each in a draw that had winners in Bahia, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro.
In practice, however, the project never materialized, and the structure remained stored under tarps in the Industrial Park of Rio Brilhante, while the city hall continued hiring outsourced companies for paving and road maintenance services.
Public Prosecutor’s Office monitored the situation of the asphalt plant
As years passed without the equipment being used, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Mato Grosso do Sul began to monitor the case and opened an investigation into the purchase of the plant and the lack of operation since its acquisition.
In June 2024, the MPMS requested documents from the city hall and asked for clarifications about the conservation conditions of the structure, which remained stored without any operational activity since the purchase made by the municipality.
A few months later, in August 2024, prosecutor Alexandre Rosa Luz signed a Conduct Adjustment Term with Mayor Lucas Foroni to define measures related to the equipment acquired by the municipal administration.
Among the measures provided in the agreement were actions to preserve public assets, evaluate the possibility of sharing with other municipalities, and even initiate an alienation procedure if the use remained unfeasible.
Given this scenario, the city hall opted for conducting an electronic auction as an alternative to resolve the impasse involving the asphalt plant purchased with public funds.
The notice was published in 2025, with the equipment valued at R$ 850 thousand and described as being in “good” condition, despite the structure not having been put into operation since its acquisition.
The electronic session took place on April 23, 2025, and had only one participant.
The only bid presented was for R$ 851 thousand, an amount R$ 1 thousand above the minimum expected and R$ 49 thousand below the amount originally disbursed by the municipality.
Auction-winning company maintains contract with city hall
Responsible for the only bid presented at the auction, Avante Usinagem de Asfalto Ltda is linked to businessman Bruno Cezar de Souza Trindade, who also appears as the owner of Avance Construtora, contracted by the City Hall of Rio Brilhante.
The company maintains a contract for the maintenance and conservation of paved and unpaved roads in the municipality, signed on March 22, 2024, valued at R$ 16.5 million, according to an extract published in the official gazette.
Five months before the signing of the TAC between the Public Ministry and the city hall, the hiring of Avance was already in effect and covered precisely services related to paving and road maintenance carried out in the city.
According to information released by Campo Grande News, the construction company was performing work in the same area where the public plant had been presented by the municipal administration as an alternative to reduce costs and expand the municipality’s operational capacity.
In addition to the municipal contract, Avance is also cited in works linked to the Government of Mato Grosso do Sul, including interventions in the Pantanal and the Industrial Hub of Rio Brilhante, with resources from the State Department of Infrastructure and Logistics.
Mayor states that plant became unfeasible
In response to Campo Grande News, Mayor Lucas Foroni stated that the purchase of the plant had the main objective of reducing expenses with resurfacing, although the own operation proved to be more complex than initially anticipated by the municipal administration.
“We sold the plant because when we opened bids for the purchase of inputs, industries were not interested in selling the necessary raw materials at a cheaper price to the municipality,” declared the mayor.
According to Foroni, the absence of proposals considered advantageous for the supply of materials ended up making it unfeasible to use the structure acquired by the city hall for its own asphalt production.
“The study is perfect, but in practice, it is much more complex to obtain the supply,” he said.
When questioned about the sale after the TAC with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the mayor maintained that the sale was the solution adopted to resolve the impasse involving the equipment.
According to him, the agreement dealt with possible damage to the treasury but did not impose a single form of resolution.
“The TAC was focused on damage to the treasury. The way it could be done was not directed, so this was the way we found to find the best path, which would be the sale,” stated Foroni.
By the time the Campo Grande News report was published, the mayor had not responded if he was aware that Avante Usinagem de Asfalto Ltda and Avance Construtora belong to the same businessman.
Be the first to react!