Gleisi and Miriam denounce the increase in fuel prices and tolls on the roads.

By Gleisi Hoffmann and Miriam Belchior - Last week, the new government announced it will review the highway concession model, changing from the lowest toll model to the highest grant model, meaning the winner of the bidding process is whoever pays the government the most, not whoever offers the lowest toll price. This is the model adopted by São Paulo and Paraná, which charge extremely high tolls, significantly impacting the country's production costs. Furthermore, changing the model will further delay the execution of projects, which have been stalled since the Temer administration.

During the PT governments, so criticized by those who are now, and were recently, in the Presidential Palace, 8.655 km of roads across 16 highways were granted concessions using the lowest toll model, resulting in low toll prices and investments that improved our highways.

This result, which had not been seen in the country for a long time, was made possible by the persistence and strategic vision of President Lula with the PAC - Growth Acceleration Program, launched in 2007, and with the PIL - Logistics Investment Program, launched by President Dilma in 2012.

The roads, which were in a state of disrepair in Brazil, became a priority in government projects, and the public works and concessions made gave the road network a new look, providing more safety and comfort to users.

But the progress wasn't just in roads. The entire infrastructure sector, so lacking in investment in Brazil, received special attention from the PT governments. President Lula always said that the growth of infrastructure investments creates a virtuous cycle, improving production conditions, expanding the demand for goods and services and, consequently, the demand for labor. Thus, employment levels and wages grow, and, again, demand increases.

For this reason, infrastructure was given high priority, with public works through the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program), as well as private partnerships through the PIL (Investment Partnership Program).

We also had positive results with the concession of the northern section of the North-South Railway; of 6 airports (Brasília, Guarulhos, Viracopos, Galeão, Confins and São Gonçalo do Amarante/RN), 3 new port terminals, renewal of 7 more and authorizations for 51 Private Use Port Terminals, resulting from the modernization of the Ports Law. In addition, we left other concessions ready or well advanced: 2 highway concession projects and 4 airport concession projects approved by the TCU (Federal Court of Accounts) and 2 highway concessions in the public hearing phase; as well as ongoing studies for various infrastructure areas.

The 2016 coup represented a major setback for these investments, as the spending cuts promoted in the wake of Constitutional Amendment 95 reduced resources, paralyzing public works in all areas. The reduction in public investment was accompanied by the discourse of greater private sector participation. However, except for the concessions of the four airports and five new port leases whose processes we have prepared, only one highway concession was carried out during the Temer administration.

With this resounding failure, the discourse changed: "Let's leave everything ready for the new government to hold the bidding processes."

If we compare the results between the PT governments and others, the success of our governments in this area is clear as well. The PSDB governments, 1994/2002, averaged 165 km of highway concessions per year; the PT governments, 650 km per year; and the coup government, 180 km per year.

For those who argue that our concessions did not guarantee a return for investors or that we demanded too much investment (defending the country's interests), we present concrete data. Our auctions saw a great deal of competition, with an average of 6 participants per auction, while in São Paulo there have been an average of two. There was also a large discount – between 46% and 61% on the tariff value. It is impossible to believe that a company would submit a bid without expecting the business to be profitable.

The BR-050, which is the last of our concession lots, secured financing during our administration and is currently making investments. The other concessioned highways have not yet begun investments because the coup government did not honor the BNDES financing conditions proposed in the auction. On the contrary, as stated by the president of the Brazilian Association of Highway Concessionaires (ABCR), it restricted the BNDES financing conditions for the sector, further aggravating the situation for the concessionaires.

Now, the new government announces that it will change the highway concession model. Perhaps also in other sectors. Who will pay the price for the cost and the delays? The Brazilian population, which will face higher tolls or a lack of infrastructure improvements to our highways and other sectors.

We believe it is necessary to strike a balance between investor remuneration and user fees, requiring new investments in existing infrastructure and not just focusing on collecting concession fees.

The Brazilian people, who are already suffering from high fuel prices, cannot afford to pay even more for the new highway toll policy.