The scope of application of Provisional Presidential Order No. 800/2017, popularly known as the Highways MP, became clearer with Ordinance No. 945/2017, published by the Ministry of Transport, Ports, and Civil Aviation on November 16.

The National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) recently concluded Public Hearing No. 37/2017, which sought support for the proposed alteration of the power limit for minigeration distributed from a water source, as provided in Normative Resolution (REN) No. 482/2012.

Presidential Provisional Measure No. 800/2017, popularly known as the “Highways PM,” establishes rescheduling of investments as a new regulatory tool for federal highway concession contracts. Subject to future regulation by the Ministry of Transport, Ports, and Civil Aviation, the measure seeks to solve the problem of concentration of investments in the first years of the concession, in the light of the fall in demand for road services.

Rafael Vanzella, Jéssica Borges, and Nathália Fukunaga The Municipality of São Paulo approved its Privatization Plan, which had been awaited since the first months of the new administration, when ideas about the privatization of municipal companies and other assets, as well as concessions for services and public goods, were frequently disclosed

The São Paulo State Government forwarded to the State Legislature Draft Bill No. 659/2017, which provides for the corporate reorganization of Companhia de Saneamento Básico de São Paulo – SABESP (São Paulo Basic Sanitation Company).

The recovery of the Brazilian economy necessarily requires resumption of industrial activities and investments in large infrastructure projects. It is not difficult to conclude that an essential condition for this goal is the agile and direct access to financial resources, both in the traditional debt markets, led mainly by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social) (BNDES), and in the capital market, which was essentially marked by issuances of infrastructure debentures (a type of notes or bonds) (Law No. 12.431/2011) over the last years.

On July 25, Brazil’s federal government sent to the National Congress three provisional presidential decrees that reform the mining sector in Brazil. The proposal is to adopt a model that adjusts the reality of this industry in Brazil to the current global economic context and to stimulate revitalization of the sector, seeking greater competitiveness and sharing of mining proceeds. Even so, the initiative has been subject to harsh criticism, especially regarding its burdening of an industry that has been suffering economic slowdown in recent years.

After a severe financial crisis, the shareholders of the concessionaire Aeroportos Brasil Viracopos S.A. (ABV) decided to request the rebidding of the concession contract for the Viracopos Airport based on Law No. 13,488/2017. This will be the first case of this type and opens up a pathway for others that may come to light because of Brazil’s difficult political and economic situation.

The Brazilian Electric Energy Agency – ANEEL is holding a reserve energy contract cancellation auction, or reverse auction, on August 28, 2017, at 10:00 am, in accordance with the rules of the competitive mechanism announcement published at the end of July. Participation in the auction is a good alternative for eligible generation projects that fail to ensure their deployment viability.

The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) settled an agreement at the end of June to share guarantees with public and private banks that act as guarantors in infrastructure projects.

The attention of participants in the electric sector will be directed, until August 4, to discussions of Public Consultation No. 33/2017.

Just over two years after the water crisis in Southeast Brazil, its effects still have repercussions on the concession instruments or programs in effect within the public sanitation services.