economy
What will happen to the Antioquia-Bolívar road after the ANI's billion-dollar conviction?
There is uncertainty about the future of Ruta al Mar, which connects the departments of Antioquia and Bolívar, following the arbitral award from the International Center for Dispute Resolution (CIRD) that ordered the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) to pay COP 3.5 trillion and declared the early termination of the concession contract due to breaches by the national entity.
TL;DR
- The National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) lost a lawsuit against the Ruta al Mar concession, operator of the road connecting Antioquia and Bolívar.
- An arbitral award from the CIRD ordered the ANI to pay COP 3.5 trillion and declared the early termination of the concession contract due to ANI's alleged breaches.
- Ruta al Mar sued in 2023 due to damages caused by frozen toll rates and delays in compensation recognition.
- Construcciones El Cóndor, a 50% shareholder, stated the decision recognizes contractual breaches by the ANI, which prevented timely completion of works and affected the project's revenue structure.
- The ruling is seen as validation of the Public-Private Partnership (APP) model and suggests similar issues may exist in other national road concessions.
- The ANI is reviewing the decision to request clarifications on amounts, scope of condemnations, and potential contradictions or ambiguities.
- A potential recourse of annulment can be filed before the Council of State after the clarification is resolved.
- Ruta al Mar has begun the reversion process of the road corridor following the arbitral award.
- Ruta al Mar committed to acting responsibly and transparently during the reversion process.