Mercosur Highway Bidding Process

Resolution 29/2025 of the Secretariat of Transportation, published in the Official Gazette on June 3, 2025, calls for national and international public bidding for building, operating, managing, repairing, expanding, conserving, maintaining, and providing services to users of the Eastern Section and Connection Section of the "Federal Concession Network - Stage No. 1" Project. The contracts to be awarded will be governed by the Public Works Concession Law 17520, as recently amended by the Bases Law 27742, passed in 2024.
 

The bidding process includes the following roads and sections:

- Eastern Section: with a total length of 682.28 km, it mainly includes federal roads 12 and 14. It extends through the Provinces of Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, and Corrientes and covers three border crossings with Uruguay and Brazil.

- Connection Section: with a total length of 59.43 km, it is mainly composed of the Rosario-Victoria Bridge, which connects the Provinces of Entre Rios and Santa Fe.

The Resolution approves the bidding documents, the contract models, the general and particular technical specifications and their annexes (available on the CONTRAT.AR website, https://contratar.gob.ar/). The Resolution also appoints the members of the Concessions Commission, who will be in charge of evaluating the bids.

The bidding process is organized in a two-stage system, with an initial phase focusing on offerors’ qualifications and experience, and a second phase focusing on the economic proposals. The proceedings will be conducted through the CONTRAT.AR website. Through this platform, interested firms may consult the relevant terms and conditions and submit bids. Bids will be opened, and communications will take place between bidders and the bidding authority on the same website.

The deadline for submitting bids is August 5, 2025 at 12:00 PM.

According to documentation released by the Government, the new concession contracts will have, among others, the following characteristics:

- concessions must be self-sustainable (concessionaires will not have to make payments to the Government and will not receive subsidies),

- tariffs are capped in the bidding documents and periodic automatic adjustments will be applied on the basis of official indexes,

- the new tariffs will only be applied once the relevant roads have met the condition of being "safe for transit,"

- the economic balance of the contract must be maintained. Should it be distorted by reasons not attributable to the concessionaire, it must be reestablished through tariff adjustments, extension of the concession’s terms or economic compensations, among others,

- step-in rights are granted to entities that provide financing to the concessionaire,

- new service areas and complementary activities will be established,

- dynamic weighing and load control systems are to be implemented.