The Government confirmed through Resolution 36/2026 published in the Official Gazette this Friday that the Belgian company Jan De Nulwhich has been carrying out maintenance work on the Trunk Waterway (VNT) for 30 years, won the tender for the Waterway and will stay with the business for the next 25 years. It will be in charge of the river route together with the national capital firm Servimagnus.
“National and International Public Tender No. 1/2025, Process No. 508-0002LPU25, be awarded to the firm JAN DE NUL NV – SERVIMAGNUS SA (CUIT 30717268640) for conforming to the extremes required in the specifications that govern this tender, said offer being the most convenient, qualified in the first order of merit.” With this paragraph, and with the signature of Iñaki Miguel Arreseygor, director of the National Ports and Navigation Agency (Anpyn), Resolution 36/2026 The largest tender of Javier Milei’s government is concluded.
The document mentions that the Trunk Waterway concentrates the largest port logistics movement in the country, bringing together nearly sixty port terminals along its channel. and constitutes the river route through which approximately eighty percent (80%) of the country’s exports are transported.
In a statement from the Ministry of Economy it was reported that there will be a 13.5% drop in logistics costs and that “a historic tender for the country” was completed.
The portfolio led by Luis Caputo reported that, as happened in the previous stages, the closing of the bidding process did not register challenges from the participating companies, “which in this way validated the technical opinions issued by the Evaluation Commission in each of the stages of the public bidding,” he assured.
Regarding administrative details, he clarified that the signing of the contract, scheduled for a maximum of 30 days, “will serve as a starting point for a new and modern Navigable Waterway, with deepening works and the incorporation of technology for the safety of navigation and the fight drug trafficking”.
Offer details
It is estimated that the successful bidder will have an average annual turnover of US$628.2 million and the total, projected at the end of the concession, would amount to US$15,707 million.
Also contemplated was an accumulated growth for the 25-year period in international traffic of 38.1%, cabotage traffic 28.2% and those transiting from Santa Fe to the north will be 52.4% more.
According to Anpyn, “it is observed that the offeror will make the large investment effort in years 1 to 7, and would begin to recover in years 8 to 15, with its respective profit taking starting in year 16.”
Once the deadline for filing objections had expired, which was seven days in a row, Anpyn took a few more days and finally issued the administrative act of adjudication. The successful bidder and the rest of the bidders were notified. The administrative act will now be published in the Official Gazette. As stipulated in the bidding document.
On December 19, 2025, Anpyn launched the tender for the selection of a concessionaire to carry out the tasks of modernization, expansion, operation and maintenance of the signaling system, dredging and re-dredging tasks, and maintenance of the trunk waterway. It’s a public works concession regime for tolls, at the entrepreneur’s risk without State endorsement. The concession will have a duration of 25 years, counted from the date of signing the contract. It may be extended for an additional period that will not exceed 20% of the original term, that is, five more years.
The winner of the tender must constitute a Specific Purpose Company (or for a specific purpose); present guarantees and execute the tasks of modernization, expansion, operation and maintenance of the signaling system, dredging, re-dredging and maintenance of the trunk navigable waterway, in accordance with the technical specifications and planned stages. You must also comply with environmental and legal regulations.
As a clarification, the bidders They will not be able to assign their participation in the contract without the prior and express authorization of Anpyn.. The sale or transfer of shares of the special purpose company that does not imply a change of control will be permitted. The sale or transfer of shares of the Specific Purpose Company that does imply a change of control will require the prior and express authorization of the grantor.
The benefits that come
According to a Ciara-CEC document to which she had access THE NATION, Each additional foot of deepening implies approximately 2,200 tons more load. At 40 feet, the boats can be completed and this implies a significant cost savings.
A few days before the name of the winning company was defined, Gustavo Idígoras, representing the companies that make up the Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic (Ciara) and the Cereal Exporters Center (CEC), sent a letter to the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, to “request that the National Government adopt the necessary measures to conclude, as a priority and definitively, the award processes of the Trunk Waterway (VNT).”
He also referred to the “need to formalize the VAT exemption on dredging and beaconing services,” since they are “an essential input for international navigation and, therefore, for exports,” Idígoras explained in the letter.
The deepening stages can be summarized as:
According to Ciara-CEC, the highest annual toll associated with the new tariff scheme, calculated on the bulk segment of international traffic and considering adjustments for base rate, draft factor and reduction in the number of vessels, It is estimated to be in the range of US$65 to 80 million per year.
As for the benefits, they show values of the order of US$1.8 to 2.1 million per ship, depending on its size. The deepening to 38 feet allows a structural reduction of the order of 9% to 11% in the number of vessels needed, equivalent to 189 to 230 avoidable vessels per year.
This reduction in ships results in an annual systemic logistics savings of the order of US$375 to US$456 millionand far exceeds the higher cost of the toll associated with the new tariff scheme, according to the calculations of the Ciara-CEC entity.
