TCU audit court postpones vote on Port of Santos privatization

The vote on the privatization process of the Port of Santos was postponed at the ordinary session of the Federal Audit Court (TCU), on Wednesday afternoon (8), in Brasília. The reason was the absence of Minister Vital do Rêgo, who had requested additional time in December to analyze the documentation submitted to the court.

The debate may return to the agenda on next Wednesday’s session (March 15) if the minister and court’s president Bruno Dantas, the rapporteur of the process, and the three ministers who requested a review of the process are present in the plenary.

Regardless of the audit court’s decision, it is worth keeping in mind that the Minister of Ports and Airports, Márcio França, ruled out carrying out an auction for the Santos Port Authority (SPA). He has already stated that he supports the concession of services but opposes privatizing the administration of the country’s main port asset.

On December 13, at the TCU, Justices Walton Alencar Rodrigues (1st reviewer), Benjamin Zymler (2nd reviewer), and Vital do Rêgo (3rd reviewer) requested more time to analyze the SPA privatization process. As a result, the documentation was not debated at the TCU at the end of last year, as expected by the then Ministry of Infrastructure (MInfra).

See below a chart with data on exports and imports of containers from the Port of Santos between January 2019 and January 2023. The data is from DataLiner.

Export and import of containers – Porto de Santos | Jan 2019 – Jan 2023 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

More on the process

Privatizing the Santos port complex entails handing over management to the private sector through the sale of Union-owned shares in the Port Authority of Santos. The highest grant value wins the contract, with Antaq requiring a minimum of R$ 3 billion for the auction.

According to the studies, the future contract-holder would have to invest BRL 16.88 billion in adaptation works and infrastructure of the organized port over a 35-year contract, extendable for up to five years. Of this total, R$ 2.99 billion would have to be allocated to building the Santos-Guarujá immersed tunnel.

The privatization studies were coordinated by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and carried out by specialized consultants contracted by the bank.

The future manager of the Port of Santos would also have to pay an annual inspection fee to Antaq of R$ 6.422 million.

Over the past year, the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq) held public hearings to receive contributions to the project. Finally, on September 12, Antaq approved the concession process for the Port of Santos, submitting the documentation to MInfra, which, in turn, sent it to TCU for analysis, the stage it is currently in.

Source: A Tribuna

To read the original news report, see: https://www.atribuna.com.br/noticias/portomar/tcu-adia-votacao-sobre-desestatizacao-do-porto-de-santos

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