Belo Horizonte Metro is privatized and will be managed by the Comporte Group

The Comporte Participações SA group won the federal state-owned CBTU (Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos) in Minas Gerais and will be responsible for managing the subway system in Belo Horizonte.

The auction was held this Thursday morning (22nd) at B3’s headquarters in São Paulo and had only one bidder. Comporte made an offer of R$ 25.7 million, which represents a premium of 33% in relation to the initial value of the auction, which was R$ 19 million.

Held at the end of the lights of the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, the auction was the target of an offensive by the base of support for president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who sought to halt privatization.

The sale of CBTU de Minas also led to a subway strike in Belo Horizonte that reached its seventh day this Thursday.

The signing of the contract is scheduled for March, during the Lula government, after the presentation of documentation by the winning company, which will be in charge of the subway expansion work in the capital of Minas Gerais. The total volume of investments is R$ 3.7 billion over the 30 years of the concession.

Attempts to stop the auction included sending a letter to the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, by vice-president-elect Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), who claimed that the project will have an impact on society and that the next steps in the process will be taken by the elected government.

This Tuesday (20), Alckmin sent another document to Guedes withdrawing from the request, without stating the reasons. The gesture was well received by Governor Romeu Zema (Novo), who supported Jair Bolsonaro in the election and defended the holding of the auction.

Another offensive had been carried out shortly after Lula’s victory by Senator Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG), who acted as a member of the transition team in the Infrastructure sector. He presented a bill that prohibited governments defeated at the polls from privatizing public assets or companies after the election, but the proposal did not go ahead.

The privatization of CBTU de Minas is linked to the Belo Horizonte subway expansion project. Line 2 of the subway, which is yet to be built, will link the only existing line in the city to the Barreiro region, one of the most populous in the capital. The new branch will have ten kilometers and seven stations.

Awaited for more than 20 years, the Belo Horizonte subway expansion work should only be completed in 2029, according to the project schedule.

The privatization of Belo Horizonte’s subway system was approved by the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) on August 24th. The technical area of ​​the court, however, pointed out the need for a reduction of R$ 245 million in the contribution foreseen by the BNDES to be made in the system after privatization.

The expansion of the system has been going on for over 20 years and is constantly mentioned by state politicians, especially during election periods.

The estimated R$ 3.7 billion will be invested in the renovation of trains and stations on line 1, the only one in the city, which connects the northern region to the neighboring municipality of Contagem, and in the construction of line 2.

Of the total planned investments, R$ 3.2 billion (86%) will come from public coffers — R$ 2.8 billion from the federal government and R$ 400 million from the government of Minas Gerais. The remaining 400 million will be paid by the winning company.

BH SUBWAY X-RAY

Line 1:

• It has 19 stations and 28.1 km
• Connects Venda Nova, in the north region, to the Eldorado neighborhood, in the neighboring municipality of Contagem
• Transports around 210,000 passengers a day
• Started operating in 1986

Line 2:

• It will have ten kilometers and seven stations
• It will connect line 1 to the Barreiro region
• Forecast completion of works in 2029