Posted on May 15, 2026
Brazilian company DTA Engenharia has filed a complaint with Argentina’s Public Prosecutor’s Office alleging irregularities and bid-rigging in the public tender launched by Javier Milei’s government for the operation and expansion of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway, a key corridor for Mercosur exports.
The Paraná-Paraguay Waterway is a river corridor stretching more than 3,000 kilometers and connecting Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. The route, which starts at the Port of Cáceres in Mato Grosso and links to Uruguayan ports, carries a significant share of Argentina’s and Paraguay’s agroindustrial production toward the Atlantic Ocean.
About 80% of exports from the two countries move through the waterway. Brazil, Uruguay and Bolivia also ship cargo along the corridor. In Brazil’s case, transport through the route mainly consists of iron ore shipped from Corumbá, in Mato Grosso do Sul, to ports in Uruguay.
Since 1995, the Vía Navegable Troncal, the Argentine section of the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway, has been operated by Belgian company Jan De Nul NV. The current tender process will determine the next 25-year concession for the Argentine stretch, which spans 1,400 kilometers.
The project also aims to expand and modernize the channel to accommodate larger vessels. Estimated revenue for the next concessionaire could reach US$600 million per year and US$15 billion by 2052.
“Structural flaws”
The tender is in its final stage and marks the Milei government’s second attempt to award the concession. The first process was canceled after allegations of favoritism toward the Belgian company, the same issue that led the Brazilian firm to challenge the current process.
In disagreement with the bidding rules set by Argentina’s Ports and Navigation Agency, DTA Engenharia — one of Latin America’s largest port infrastructure and dredging companies — submitted a protest letter against what it described as “structural flaws” in the tender, instead of the bid maintenance guarantee required from candidates.
The Argentine agency declared the Brazilian company’s offer “inadmissible,” leaving only the Belgian groups Jan De Nul and Deme, Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering NV, in the race.
At the same time, the company owned by businessman João Acácio Gomes de Oliveira Neto, which has previously carried out dredging work at several Brazilian ports, including Santos, filed a complaint with the Administrative Investigations Prosecutor of Argentina’s Public Prosecutor’s Office. The complaint alleges that the qualification and technical scoring criteria in the tender were designed to favor Jan De Nul.
As examples, the company cites requirements such as previous operations on waterways longer than 250 kilometers; minimum annual processing of 20 million cubic meters over the past 10 years — “precisely the volume processed annually by the VNT”; and minimum monthly performance using owned equipment.
According to the Brazilian company, meeting those requirements does not necessarily reflect the technical capacity of bidders and, by allegedly converging toward a single operator, would amount to “objective proof” of bid-rigging.
The complaint also challenges the inclusion of a minimum price in the tender, which it described as “particularly striking.”
DTA says it could also apply a basic tariff of US$3.59 per tonne for one stage of the operation, below the US$3.80 floor set in the bidding rules.
“Our company quoted below that prohibition so as not to be complicit in a flawed public administration procedure, understanding that this amounts to malpractice by the enforcement authority, which responds to interests coordinated with companies and warrants an investigation into the damage — fraud — against the public administration,” the company said.
“In any tender guided by the public interest, what is limited is the maximum tariff, not the minimum,” the text added, arguing that the imposed minimum would mean about US$4 billion in additional toll costs for Argentine exporters.
Speaking to CNN, Oliveira Neto said the purpose of the complaint is to have the current tender canceled.
“What I expect is for it to be canceled, for it to be placed on equal terms so everyone can compete, and for there to be no minimum price. We have the technology to do this below the minimum,” he said, adding: “That is why my proposal was not a proposal; it was a protest letter inside my envelope. That is why I did not submit a surety bond.”
Contacted by CNN, Casa Rosada did not comment on the Brazilian company’s complaint. Argentina’s Economy Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
CNN also contacted Jan De Nul but received no response.
