FROM THE GOVERNMENT THEY THINK OF A PUBLIC-PRIVATE SYSTEM FOR THE BIDDING OF THE HIDROVÍA

La medida de fuerza impulsada por gremios portuarios será en el día de hoy para reclamar la vacunación del personal.

The Secretary of Transportation, Diego Giuliano, affirmed this Friday that the tender for the exploitation of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway foresees “public participation in coordination with the private sector,” with the aim of modernizing the operation of the 1,635-kilometer river route that allows different types of cargo vessels to go out into the ocean.

“The participation of the public in relation to and in coordination with the private is the best way to sustain this waterway and that will be the spirit in the design of the national and international tender for its exploitation,” Giuliano said in statements made to El Uncover Radio.

The official made it clear that the new waterway exploitation scheme includes the participation of “universities, the provinces through the Federal Water Council, the bicameral National Congress and a national entity that will be in charge of the toll.”

Regarding the participation of the private sector, he declared himself in favor of a “modern waterway, incorporating technology and investing in merchant marine.”

During the next twelve months, in accordance with the provisions of Decree 427/2021 published this Thursday in the Official Gazette, the Hidrovía will be under the control of the General Administration of Ports (AGP), which will be responsible for the maintenance of the signaling system and dredging and redrawing tasks, and the corresponding hydrological control.

During this period, the AGP “must contract a public or private company for the task of dredging and marking,” explained the Secretary of Transportation.

Regarding the sectors that question state participation in the administration of the Hidrovía, he pointed out that they represent “the darkest” because “they do not want any type of control, nor that the provinces participate, nor a prior environmental impact report.”

Decree 427/2021 also established conditions for the provision of the service by the AGP, such as a term of 12 months, extendable until the service is taken by the person or those who are awarded the tender, and the establishment of the rate base and the financing mechanism for the same by rate or toll that the Administration will receive.

In addition, the AGP must determine the delimitation of the rivers, channels, zones, sections, traces and sections in which the Trunk Inland Waterway will be formed or segmented, so that said sections at any time can be affected or deactivated with respect to the scope and the object of the contract, totally or partially, in relation to the different services provided therein.

In the same way, it will be necessary to establish the procedure for the eventual revision of tariffs or tolls, considering the participation or opinion of the users, representative entities of the related sectors and obliged to pay.