Préstamo Puente para el Programa PPP Red de Autopistas y Rutas Seguras

The decline in public and private investment has had a considerable impact on infrastructure development in Argentina, particularly in the transport sector. To address this situation, in November 2016, the Government of Argentina enacted the Argentinean Public-Private Partnerships Law (Law 27,328 or the “PPP Law”). This law updated the framework for participation, partnership and contracting between the public and private sectors, incorporating and adopting best practices on public-private partnerships in the region in the preparation, tendering and financing of infrastructure projects. Under this new legal framework, the Government of Argentina expects to develop (by 2025) around 60 investment projects in the transport, energy, communications, education and health sectors with a total value of US$69 billion, of which close to US$30 billion is expected to be provided by the private sector.

The Highways and Safe Routes Network Program (“RARS” for its acronym in Spanish)—whose objective is to redevelop, improve, extend and renovate the country’s highway network, as well as to enhance and improve signage and lighting on routes to improve safety conditions and reduce logistics costs in the country—is the first initiative prepared under the PPP Law. The first phase of the RARS (“RARS Phase I”) includes the concession of six road corridors (A, B, C, E, F and South) of national strategic importance, both in terms of the flow of people and goods (https://ppp.vialidad.gob.ar/proyecto-7/). These corridors cut through the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza, San Luis and Santa Fe, which together account for most of the country’s employment and production, and cover an approximate total distance of 3,400 kilometers (km), including: 810 km of highways, 1,500 km of safe routes and 250 km of new access routes. The total estimated investment required for works on the six corridors in the first four years of the concessions (2018-2022) is approximately US$6.04 billion. 

The international public tender process to award Phase I of the six RARS corridors was initiated in November 2017, with the participation of 10 consortiums which together submitted 32 offers. In June 2018, the Government of Argentina awarded the concessions for the six corridors to five PPP contractors made up of local and international companies.

The IDB Invest loan (hereinafter, “the Transaction”) will provide bridge financing for a subset of investment projects included in the RARS Phase I, which were selected based on their relevance within the RARS by the Argentine National Highway Department and the Ministry of Transport, after consulting with the PPP contractors. These projects will be financed in three phases: i) the first phase (Phase I), which includes eight individual projects, shall begin to be disbursed once the Loan has been signed by the parties (immediately following its approval by the IDB Invest Board of Directors), and once they have complied with the conditions established prior to disbursement; ii) the second phase (Phase II), which includes approximately 17 additional projects; and iii) the third phase (Phase III), which includes minor projects, construction works, toll booths and other related investments. Phase II and Phase III will begin to be disbursed as soon as it has been verified that the environmental and social information for each of these projects is substantially in accordance with the requirements contained in IDB Invest’s Sustainability Policy. The three aforementioned groups of projects are as follows:

Phase I:
Corridor A: Highway Las Flores - Azul (A-AU-01)
Corridor B: Highway Mercedes- Bragado (B-AU-02)
Corridor C: Highway RN San Andrés de Giles (C-AU-03)
Corridor E: Third Lanes (E-AU-11)
Corridor F: Specials (F-RS-01)
Corridor F: Highway San Eduardo - A° Ludueña (F-AU-01)
Corridor SUR: Bypass Cañuelas (SUR-AU-08)
Corridor SUR: Reconstruction of descendent lane (SUR-RS-09)

Phase II: 
Corrdor A: Highway Las Flores – Azul (A-AU-02)
Corridor A: Safe route Azul (Int. RN N° 226) - Coronel Dorrego (A-RS-04)
Corridor A: Safe route Azul (Int. RN N° 226) - Coronel Dorrego (A-RS-01)
Corridor A: Repaving works (A-RS-13)
Corridor A: Repaving works (A-RS-13)
Corridor B: Repaving works (B-RS-10)
Corridor C: Repaving works (C-RS-10)
Corridor C: Safe route (C-RS-09a)
Corridor C: Repaving works (C-RS-09b)
Corridor C: Safe route (C-RS-01)
Corridor E: Repaving works (E-RS-04)
Corridor E: Safe route (E-RS-01)
Corridor F: Repaving works (F-RS-03)
Corridor F: Repaving works (F-RS-03)
Corridor SUR: Bypass San Miguel del Monte (SUR-AU-10)
Corridor SUR: Repaving works (SUR-RS-03)
Corredor SUR: Autopista San Miguel del Monte - Las Flores (SUR-AU-11º)

Phase III: 
Corridor A: Toll stations (A-RS-15)
Corridor A: Weigh stations (A-RS-16)
Corridor B: Safe route Bragado-Anguil (B-RS-06)
Corridor B: Toll stations (B-RS-12)
Corridor B: Weigh stations (B-RS-13)
Corridor C: Safe route (C-RS-01)
Corridor C: Weigh stations (C-RS-13)
Corridor C: Toll stations (C-RS-12)
Corridor E: Toll stations (E-RS-06)
Corridor E: Weigh stations (E-RS-07)
Corridor F: Toll stations (F-RS-05)
Corridor SUR: Repaving works (SUR-RS-03)
Corridor SUR: Fourth lane highway Riccheri (SUR-AU-01)
Corridor SUR: Reconstruction of third existing lane (desc) (SUR-AU-01)
Corridor SUR: Third lane highway Jorge Newbery (SUR-AU-04)
Corridor SUR: Toll stations (SUR-RS-04)
Corridor SUR: Weigh stations (SUR-RS-05)