In force since Sep 10, 2026
Waterway: a 25-year private concession
Res. 36/2026 ANPYN (award) · private management since Sep 10, 2026
in executionNATIONAL
State, institutions and security
Res. 36/2026 awards the Vía Navegable Troncal to Jan de Nul and Servimagnus for 25 years: the toll starts at USD 3.80 per NRT and rises to 5.78.
The other rules on this subject27
Royalties are shared by population, not by where the field isLey provincial 2148 (enacted on 15-Nov-1995)in force
Private property: expropriation costs more and eviction speeds up (half-sanctioned)Bill PE-13/2026 (Mensaje 22/26) — first-round approval in the Senate; now in the Chamber of Deputies (file 0032-S-2026)pending
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
The operation, maintenance, dredging and modernization of the Vía Navegable Troncal (Paraná-Paraguay Waterway), the route through which ~80% of Argentine foreign trade exits, is placed under concession for 25 years. DEFINITIVELY AWARDED (Res. 36/2026 ANPYN, Jun 19, 2026) to the consortium Jan de Nul N.V. (Belgium) + Servimagnus S.A. Estimated revenue ~USD 15,000 M over 25 years via toll. The toll-based public works concession contract has already been signed with the company the consortium set up, Vía Navegable Argentina S.A., and private management began on Sep 10, 2026.Three months after the award the handover still had not happened, and it is an act of the State itself that says so: Resolución 105/2026 of the Administración General de Puertos, dated 4 August 2026, extends a tariff «until the concessionaire effectively takes over the service». And in passing it exposes a stretch that the focus on the big concession was hiding: Section II, «Puerto de Santa Fe - Confluencia» — the stretch running north from Santa Fe, the one serving the northwest and traffic with Paraguay and Bolivia — has had a full tariff of USD 1.47 per net register tonne since 2022 that was never applied: it was suspended after submissions and court actions by users, and in its place a discount has been rolled over since February 2023 — USD 0.80, then USD 1.20 and today USD 1.30 per NRT for international traffic — through at least six successive resolutions. The reason given in the recitals is explicit: the working group that was to study whether that tariff is reasonable was never constituted, because the technical teams are still busy with the institutional transition opened by DNU 3/2025 when it created the Agencia Nacional de Puertos y Navegación and dissolved the AGP. verif Jun 19, 2026 ↗
In force
Awarded on Jun 19, 2026, with the contract signed (the official note dates it Jul 7, 2026) and private management since Sep 10, 2026. The Vía Navegable Troncal Administration Trust is already set up: the Agencia Nacional de Puertos y Navegación appointed its general coordinator on Sep 10. According to the Agency, the start of private management triggered the toll cut from USD 4.30 to USD 3.80 and the start of the works deadlines; the resolution setting the new tariff was not found in the Boletín Oficial. As of Aug 4, 2026 the handover still had not happened (Res. AGP 105/2026). prob Sep 10, 2026 ↗
Who it applies to
Exporters (agriculture/grains), Greater Rosario and coastal ports, shipping companies; toll users (USD 3.80/NRT initial, rising to 4.65 and 5.78 in stages). prob Jun 5, 2026 ↗
The norm
Resolución 36/2026 of the Agencia Nacional de Puertos y Navegación (ANPYN), signed on Jun 18, 2026 and published in the Boletín Oficial on Jun 19, 2026 (notice 343322). It makes the final award of Licitación Pública Nacional e Internacional N° 1/2025, the national and international public tender (Process 508-0002-LPU25). The first tender had been annulled in Feb 2025 (a single bid); the preliminary award came on Jun 6, 2026. verif Jun 19, 2026 ↗
Our reading
It takes the State off the artery through which ~80% of foreign trade exits and sets rules for 25 years: dredging, modernization and predictability for the whole export chain (R3 · stability → long-term investment). The counterweight we measure: the rising toll (USD 3.80 → 5.78/NRT) — the thesis wins if efficiency outpaces the cost. thesis
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Where it lands, province by province2
Santa Fe Santa Fe (the Greater Rosario hub, the core of agro-exports) is the most exposed: a modernized waterway with a long-term private operator lowers logistics costs and gives predictability (favorable), but the rising toll is a direct cost for the chain (adverse). Net: it depends on whether the efficiency gain outweighs the toll. mixed stability → long-term investment thesis
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ports on the Paraná de las Palmas and the access to the ocean benefit from a route dredged and maintained to international standard. favorable stability → long-term investment thesis
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Analysis and curation: Ignacio Aredez
Head of Despegue
Method and track record →- 20+ years in technology, 15 of them in data and AI, for clients across Europe and the Americas
- Certified in AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
- Machine Learning (Google Cloud)
- Registered expert with the European Commission
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verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf a source said it · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading · the date belongs to the datum, at the precision its source allows