🚗 The Government is moving forward with the largest road concession in the last decade: 12,000 kilometers of roads will pass into private hands from June

The Federal Concessions Network will eliminate state subsidies and will be financed exclusively with tolls, in a historic turn for Argentine infrastructure

📅 April 7, 2026 | ⏱️ Reading Time: 6 minutes

Buenos Aires — The Ministry of Economy, headed by Luis Caputo, confirmed this week the definitive schedule for the third and most ambitious stage of the Federal Road Concession Network. Starting in June 2026, the national government will tender 12,000 kilometers of national routes under an unprecedented scheme: zero financing from the Treasury, total private investment and exclusive remuneration through tolls.

The initiative, which completes the dismantling of the state-owned company Corredores Viales S.A. , seeks to progressively transform the country's main productive corridors into two-lane highways, improving road safety and logistics for cargo transport. The plan covers strategic sections in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, San Luis, La Pampa, Entre Ríos, Corrientes, Chaco, Mendoza and Santiago del Estero, among other provinces.

📋 A three-stage plan: this is how the concession is structured

The privatization of the Argentine road system was organized in progressive phases. Stage I, already awarded in January of this year, transferred the Mercosur Highway (routes 12 and 14) and the Rosario-Victoria Bridge to the private sector, with toll rates ranging from $1,000 to $1,900 for private vehicles.

 Stage II – whose envelopes are scheduled to open in May – tenders more than 2,500 kilometers divided into four sections:

• Mediterranean Section: 672 km of routes 7 and 35 (Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba)
• Puntano section: 720 km of routes 8, 36, 193 and A-005 (San Luis, Córdoba, Santa Fe, Buenos Aires)
• Southern Port Section: 637 km of routes 9 and 188 (Buenos Aires, La Pampa)
• North Port Section: 528 km including Rosario Beltway, Rosario-Buenos Aires Highway and National Route 33

 Stage III, whose schedule was made official by Resolution 174/2026, adds an additional 3,900 kilometers in eight corridors: Cuyo, North Center, Northwest, Chaco-Santa Fe, Litoral, Northeast, Center and Mesopotamian. With this final phase, the concessioned network will total more than 9,000 kilometers – a figure that, added to the complementary sections and accesses, is close to the 12,000 kilometers projected by the Executive.

Key calendar: Bids for Stage III may be submitted until June 18, 2026 at 12:00 p.m.  through the CONTRAT.AR platform. Consultations on the specifications will be enabled until May 4.

💰 Subsidy-free tolls: the new financing model

The scheme marks a break with the previous system. "This system will not have any subsidy from the public sector, which until now made contributions to sustain a deficit concession scheme," said sources from the National Highway Authority. Concessionaires must finance works, maintenance, operation and user services exclusively with the collection of tolls.

The maximum values established in the specifications for Stage II-B anticipate the new tariff scenario:

Values for category 2 (private car). Source: Bidding Documents

The award mechanism will prioritize the company that offers the lowest rate below the cap. In the event of a tie, it will be defined by the shortest concession term – the maximum stipulated is 20 years, extendable to 30.

The new tolls will incorporate automatic collection systems with license plate reading. Users who do not have TelePASE will pay double the rate.

🔧 Priority works: from Circunvalación to Route 33

Among the most urgent interventions that the new concessionaires will have to carry out are:

• Rosario Beltway Avenue: 30-kilometer comprehensive repair between  La Florida and Belgrano Avenue. The route has destroyed roads, lack of lighting and poor signage, aggravated by the recent collapse of a pedestrian bridge.
• Rosario-Buenos Aires Highway: more than 50 kilometers on National Route 9, from the interprovincial border to the junction with the Circunvalación. Mayors of the region had complained for months about the progressive deterioration of the accesses.
• National Route 33: repaving and reconstruction of shoulders in the Rufino-General Villegas section. The work was demanded by the Justice, which on December 1, 2025 ordered the national government to repair the most critical sector between RN 178 and Chabás.
• New toll stations: the specifications propose five booths on RN 33 (Trenque Lauquen, Villegas, Rufino, Venado Tuerto and Casilda) and four on the Mediterranean Section (Chacabuco, Rufino, Laboulaye and Malena).

🏗️ Complementary businesses and state control

Concessionaires will be authorized to operate ancillary services that increase their profitability: inns, service stations, shopping centers, hotels, pharmacies, ATMs and telecommunications services.

The National Highway Ministry will maintain supervision and control functions of the contracts, while the Argentine Guarantee Fund (FOGAR) will provide guarantees for construction companies to access bank financing.

⚠️ The sector's warnings

The Minister of Public Works of Santa Fe, Lisandro Enrico, expressed reservations about the financial viability of the scheme: "The tolls are not economically and technically enough to repair. The proceeds will only be used for operating expenses – grass cutting, signage, lighting – but not for repaving long distances," he warned.

The official also confirmed that the province continues to negotiate with the Nation the transfer of jurisdiction of the A012 route in the access to the port terminals of Timbúes, a key node for agro-industrial exports.

🔍 Context: the end of Road Corridors

Road privatization is part of the Bases Law approved by Congress, which declared Corredores Viales S.A. "subject to privatization." According to official figures, 45% of the road network managed by the state-owned company was not in optimal conditions at the time of the transfer.

"The State leaves its role as a road builder and administrator to assume the functions of promoter and supervisor of what the private sector develops," Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni had declared when announcing the process.

The market's response will be decisive. The first tenders attracted seven national and international bids, all below the planned tariff caps – a sign that the government interprets as validation of the model.

📎 Official documentation: The complete specifications can be consulted on CONTRAT.AR, the public procurement portal of the Nation.

📬 Press contact National Highway: prensa@vialidad.gob.ar

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