Conconcreto announced that it withdrew from the Tercer Carril Bogotá – Girardot construction project, following reaching an agreement with Grupo Vinci to limit your exposure on site. Both companies operated the project under Vía 40 Express.
The megaproject from which Concreto is moving away includes 21 vehicular bridges, 25 pedestrian ones, four viaducts, 69 kilometers of track expanded to third rail, as well as rehabilitating 145 kilometers of track. In addition, it has an extension of 145 kilometers and expects to benefit close to one million people.
With his descent “of the train”, Conconcreto decreases $248,000 million in its assets. Now, the company went from having a 50% stake to 15% in the Vía 40 Express Concession.
But what are the reasons behind not continuing and taking immediate losses?
The construction company assured that, following an analysis, the project has ceased to be “attractive” and has become “risky” due to the current macroeconomic situation, since inflation, high interest rates and the devaluation of the Colombian peso once morest the dollar have impacted the price of construction materials and services. When Conconreto was asked for more details regarding the decision, the company said it would not comment further.
So the analysis is that the construction company decided to lose on time, and avoid further losses in the future, due to delays or adverse changes in construction. The foregoing also has some background: the players of the Bogotá-Girardot concession had already had problems.
To understand the thread, the first thing is that the contract was delivered to Conconcreto and Grupo Vinci in 2016, but it was only until 2018 that the works began. This was contracted for 30 years, until 2046.
In February of this year, the Superindustry confirmed a $1,128 million fine for Juan Luis Aristizábal, president of Conconcreto, for “unfair competition” in the Bogotá-Girardot Third Rail project, but the company was finally exonerated of all charges following not finding indications of collusion in the project.
Vinci Concesiones, Vía 40 Express, Benton SAS and Gezhouba Group were also investigated. In addition, the project has also been the subject of complaints due to poor completion of advances made on the road.
The last thing that is known is that the completion of the third causeway will be in charge of Vinci. “Grupo Vinci, with its extensive experience at a global level (…) will guarantee the completion of the Bogotá Girardot Third Lane project. In turn, Conconcreto will continue to contribute its experience and knowledge,” the company said in an official statement.
