Milei expanded the Federal Concessions Network and opened bids to privatize 27 sections of national highways

The government of Javier Milei has moved forward with the expansion of the Federal Concessions Network and enabled the incorporation of 27 segments of national roads into the private management scheme. This measure will allow for new tenders to be called to transfer the operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation of road corridors to the private sector, with financing through toll collection.

The decision was formalized through Decree 1358/2026, published in the Official Gazette and signed by President Javier Milei and Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo. The regulation incorporates roads that are currently under state administration into the concession regime established by Law 17.520.

The central objective of the program is to move towards a model in which private companies assume the responsibility of maintaining and improving road infrastructure, reducing dependence on public financing and limiting the use of state resources.

What are the 27 national roads that can be concessioned

The expansion includes corridors distributed across different regions of the country. Among them are strategic routes for cargo transport, interprovincial circulation, and the connection of major production centers.

In the province of Buenos Aires, national routes 3, 9, 33, 35, and 228 were incorporated, in addition to access A0017. Segments of routes 22 and 35 that cross La Pampa also appear, while route 9 includes sections in Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Santiago del Estero, and Jujuy.

In the Litoral and northern Argentina, the list includes:

• Route 11: Santa Fe, Chaco, and Formosa.

• Route 12: Entre Ríos.

• Route 14: Corrientes and Misiones.

• Route 16: Santiago del Estero, Chaco, and Salta.

• Route 34: Jujuy and Salta.

• Route 50: Salta.

• Routes 81 and 86: Formosa.

• Route 89: Chaco and Santiago del Estero.

In the central region, national routes 38, in Córdoba and La Rioja; 60 and 158, in Córdoba; while in Patagonia, routes 25 and 26, in Chubut, and 237, in Neuquén, were included.

The scheme also includes routes 120, 121, and 122, in Corrientes, and routes 151 and 152, in La Pampa.

The new corridors may consist of all or certain sections of these routes, as long as they are not included within currently active concessions. The provision also includes routes that had already appeared in previous stages of the program, such as national routes 3, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 33, 34, and 35.

Economy will have 12 months to call for tenders

The decree established that the Ministry of Economy, through the Transportation Secretariat, will be responsible for organizing the concession process. Before defining the new corridors, it must have technical reports from the National Road Directorate (DNV).

The portfolio led by Luis Caputo will be empowered to draft and approve the specifications, call for national and international public tenders, evaluate the offers, award contracts, and formalize agreements with the selected companies.

The established deadline for calling for tenders is 12 months from the entry into force of the decree.

The companies that obtain the concessions will be responsible for the construction, operation, administration, repair, expansion, conservation, and maintenance of the corridors. Additionally, they will be authorized to develop complementary activities that allow for generating additional income from toll collection.

For its part, the National Road Directorate will continue as the enforcement authority and will be responsible for supervising and controlling compliance with the obligations assumed by the concessionaires.

Milei seeks to reduce state spending and shift investments to the private sector

The expansion of the Federal Concessions Network is part of the government's economic strategy to reduce the direct participation of the state in the administration of infrastructure and promote private investments.

From the Executive, they maintain that this model will allow financing works and conservation tasks without exclusively depending on budget allocations, in addition to improving circulation conditions, reinforcing road safety, and reducing logistical costs that affect transport and productive activities.

The initiative is framed within the changes introduced by the Bases Law, which expanded the tools of the Executive Power to grant concessions and established that Corredores Viales S.A. would be subject to privatization.

The Federal Concessions Network program aims to progressively replace the state administration scheme of different corridors with contracts in which private companies assume investments and operational responsibilities in exchange for toll exploitation.

The previous stages of the Federal Concessions Network

The announced expansion adds to stages I, II, II-B, and III of the program, which, according to the background included in the decree, have already been tendered and awarded.

These instances included strategic corridors from different regions, among them Oriental, Connection, South, Atlantic, South Access, Pampa, Mediterranean, Puntano, Portuario South, Portuario North, Cuyo, North Center, Northwest, Chaco-Santa Fe, Litoral, Northeast, Center, and Mesopotamian.

With this new incorporation, Milei's administration seeks to deepen the transformation of the Argentine road system through a concession scheme that transfers to the private sector the responsibility of operating, maintaining, and developing a large part of the national infrastructure.

The official bet is to move towards a system in which investments and maintenance of the roads depend on concession contracts, with less pressure on public accounts and greater participation of private capital.