Government Aims to Hold 22 More Auctions This Year and Has 119 Projects Already Announced

The Jair Bolsonaro Government Held 29 Auctions in 2019 and Another 22 Are Expected to Occur by the End of the Year.

The government’s agenda for privatizations and concessions advanced and was expanded this year, even with doubts circulating around the process of state-owned enterprises sales. The government spokesman, General Otávio do Rêgo Barros, stated that President Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) has no intention of privatizing Petrobras.

The current number of assets to be offered in auctions for the private sector stands at 119, compared to 69 at the beginning of the year; these numbers include projects initiated during the Michel Temer government and those announced during President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration.

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The advancement of partnerships with the private sector and the privatization of state-owned enterprises in airport services, highways, railways, ports, among others, is considered fundamental by the government, as it can increase the level of investments in Brazil and free up public resources.

Of the 119 projects in the current portfolio, 56 are concessions, mainly in the transportation and energy sectors, and 16 are privatizations (sale of control or de-statization).

Practically all listed state-owned enterprises are still being analyzed, with no defined schedule or modeling, also depending on Congress’s approval.

The Investments Partnership Program (PPI) also includes leasing projects, PPPs (public-private partnerships), cross-investment, contract extensions, and partnerships for the completion of unfinished works.

In addition to expanding the list of state-owned enterprises to be privatized, including companies such as Correios, Telebras, and Ceagesp, the government also announced projects in new areas such as national parks, the environmental licensing of four new hydropower plants, and works on six highways, the de-statization of public ports, and studies to make feasible the completion of projects such as the Angra 3 nuclear power plant.

This year, about 29 asset transfer projects to the private sector have been taken from paper, including 12 airports, 13 port terminals, energy and oil and gas auctions, in addition to the concession of the Norte-Sul railroad and BR-364/365, held on the last 27th.

According to the government, with these auctions, over R$11 billion in investments have already been contracted to be carried out over the next three decades.

The Bolsonaro government announced the inclusion of another 83 projects. In May, the PPI Council announced the inclusion of 59, and in August, another 24, plus studies to develop projects for childcare, prisons, basic sanitation, public lighting, and cabotage with states and municipalities.

The schedule for the privatization and concession program foresees the completion of 22 more projects by the end of this year. If realized, the number of projects completed in 2019 should exceed 50.

• Castello Branco said Petrobras will sell offices abroad
• “Petrobras’s headquarters in Salvador, Bahia, was a temple of corruption,” said Castello Branco in the Chamber of Deputies
• Petrobras has finally concluded the sale of the Pargo, Carapeba, and Vermelho fields to Perenco
• Field operated by Petrobras and Equinor has contract extended for another 27 years