The Government Reported Sabotage in the Hidrovía Bidding Process and Pointed at Macri

The head of the Ports Agency,  Iñaki Miguel Arreseygor, reported to the Transport Commission of the  Chamber of Deputies that the bidding for the concession of the Paraguay–Paraná Waterway, through which 80% of Argentine exports pass, was subject to sabotage.

In this regard, he pointed to former President Mauricio Macri and his former Minister of Transport, Guillermo Dietrich, as responsible for the collapse of the process.

Arreseygor denounced an "organized sabotage"

During his presentation, the official stated that there was an "unprecedented operation" coordinated by former officials and legal firms to prevent the bidding from succeeding. "There was a mysterious hand at the last moment that pressured all the actors not to participate. On the part of the companies, that constitutes a crime that the Competition Defense is investigating. On the part of political and non-political actors, that constitutes the crime of treason, which we are going to denounce," he assured.

He also stated that the maneuvers directly affected the producers. "Here the producer lost due to the political pettiness of a group of opportunists who decided to sabotage a procedure to see if they could get their hands on it later," he expressed.

The only offer and the Government's decision

The accusations come after Javier Milei's Government annulled the bidding upon receiving a single offer, from the Belgian company DEME. The company had previously reported alleged steering maneuvers, although it withdrew the accusations before submitting.

The presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, explained that the bidding was canceled due to the pressures exerted on the process and the questions about the technical requirements of the document. Although the Government stated that the Judiciary validated the legality of the process in three instances, the lack of competition led to the annulment of the call.

Guillermo Dietrich's response

In response to the accusations,  former Minister of Transport Guillermo Dietrich defended his management and criticized the annulled bidding process.

"From day one we said that the bidding was poorly planned. In 2019 we left a document that caused competition, with logical terms (not 30 years), that was defined by the lowest price and that had reasonable times to submit offers," he stated in a statement.

What will happen with the Waterway?

Arreseygor reaffirmed the Government's commitment to transparency and cost reduction for producers.

"We are going to insist again because we can't auction off the backbone of Argentina's foreign trade due to a group of operations by two or three opportunists," he concluded.