The president of Corredores Viales, Gonzalo Atanasof, stated this Saturday that if the concession contracts for the North and West highways continued to advance, there would be increases of up to 2,500% in tolls plus a debt of close to US$2,000 million, “which they were going to pay users with the fee”.
“Here we must understand that in 2018 Macri recognizes the highways Ausol (Autopistas del Sol) and GCO (Concession Group of the West) a debt of US $ 750 million”raised this morning Atanasof in declarations to AM750.
The head of Corredores Viales explained that “that total began to be owed and from then on the concession was extended from 2020 to 2030, but for the Government this debt has no basis or record.”
Athanasof thus referred to the request for annulment of the concession contracts of said highways -signed in 2018 by the management of Mauricio Macri- by President Alberto Fernández and the Minister of Public Works, Gabriel Katopodis.
He also remarked that not only was “any other company that wanted to present itself left out of free competition, but it was also going to have an interest in dollars of 8% per year and that it was going to be capitalized.”
“If the State was late in paying the debt, it was part of the capital and there it goes from owing US$750 million to US$1,100 million”accurate.
In addition, “the amounts had to be received by the concessionaires free of Income Tax and that the latter had to be paid through rates”, with which -he continued- “we went from US$ 1,100 million to US$ 2,000 million in four years.”
“They told the concessions that the debt is going to be paid by the users with the rate, and that is where we say that dollarization is in that agreement,” objected Atanasof.
Finally, he projected that, if “this agreement had continued to advance, there would be increases of between 2,000% and 2,500%” in the North and West access rates.
“Those who paid $80 would have to pay $1,830 for North Access, and those who paid $100 for West Access today would be paying $1,072,” said the head of Corredores Viales.
“For all these issues, it is that we believe that this contract is null and void,” he concluded.
