Caminos del Comahue

Cancelled

In 1994 a 15 year concession to rehabilitate and operate a 15km section of provincial route 7 in the province of Neuquen (from Centenario to the city of Neuquen) was awarded to Caminos del Comahue SA a private SPV with Argentine shareholders. The road was taken over by the concessionaire in June 1995. The capital expenditure of the project was not known but approximately 23 million pesos (US $6 million) in debt was outstanding in June 2010 after a new concession had been awarded. Caminos de Comahue was also to receive compensation for a lowering of tolls in 2001. The new concessionaire, Corredores Viales del Neuquen SA, signed their concession contract in 2010, but the concession was scheduled to commence in 2011 and end in 2025. This contract was a re-negotiation of the old contract. Corredores Viales del Neuquen SA was to increase tolls up to 150% of 2010 levels in select categories. The increased revenue would be used to pay off the debt of the old concessionaire. In fact, a percentage of the tariff would be earmarked for the state of Neuquen to pay off the debt of Caminos del Comahue SA. Corredores Viales del Neuquen SA was comprised of local companies Neuquén Silvano Cuevas (Argentina, 70%) and Engineer Ricardo Daniel Nellar (Argentina, 30%). The government of Argentina's Neuquén province terminated the contract with Corredores Viales del Neuquén in August 2011. The concession was renegotiated several times and ultimately proved to be unsustainable, according to a government release.