The shadow toll model, for which the Administration pays the construction companies of the M-45 and M-501 highways annually and based on traffic, has been a hit for the concessionaires, according to the Chamber of Accounts.
The report of the supervisory body warns that the companies that manage these roads obtained only between 2016 and 2018 a return on their investment "much higher" than expected: 122 million euros after taxes.
It underlines that by the time these agreements expire, and that of the M-407, between 2024 and 2035, they may have exceeded 2,200 million in direct payments, increasing the amounts established in the original contracts by 71% for the first tranche of the M-45, 36% for the second, or 22% for the third, in addition to 7% for the M-501 and 5% for the M-407.
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The millionaire hole of the M-45
“Bearing in mind that the (decisions of) Public Administrations have long-term implications for future generations, their selection requires a particularly solid justification and analysis in order to guarantee that it is the best contracting option among all those available and the which offers a better value for money in accordance with the criteria of effectiveness, efficiency and economy that must govern the management of public spending, so it would be advisable that, in the face of possible new contracts, the precise analyzes be carried out, at least that there is a comparative study of what it would cost the Administration to assume the construction of the infrastructure with its own means”, warns the supervisory entity about the problems of the model.
It is not just any assessment.
The commitment to public-private collaboration for this type of public works is not restricted to the roads of the time of Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, or to the hospitals of Esperanza Aguirre.
Isabel Díaz Ayuso wants to build one of the great works of Europe, the City of Justice, in this way: the construction company will spend more than 500 million to make the buildings a reality, and then will manage and operate its services for 40 years to obtain profits estimated at more of 200 million.
In the case of highways, the Chamber of Accounts constructs sentence by sentence the arguments of a scandal that affects the successive governments of Gallardón, Aguirre, Cristina Cifuentes, Ángel Garrido and Díaz Ayuso.
The concessionaires, says the supervisory body, did not run the risk derived from the construction that the law requires because a clause in the agreements exempted them from facing the bulk of the extra costs derived from an error in the calculation of the cost of the expropriations necessary to build the tracks: for this concept the Administration had paid more than 140 million in 2018, a figure that is currently around 200 million.
The Community, furthermore, did not dedicate its own personnel to inspect the number of vehicles circulating on the road, nor the state of the road surfaces, or compliance with the obligations of the companies, allowing a clear conflict of interest: that the concessionaires hire a technical assistance to do so, thus establishing the data that establishes how much the regional government pays each year.
Finally, the Administration, underlines the supervisory entity, did not apply the system of incentives and penalties provided for the deviation in the accident rates.
And it did not verify that the obligatory expenses for the conservation of the highways were executed.
It all starts in 1996, with the M-45.
Promoted by the Government of Gallardón to join the M-40, at the height of Carabanchel, with the municipalities of Coslada and San Fernando de Henares, connecting four national highways (A-2, A-3, A-4 and A-42 ), the first contest was deserted.
And for it to go ahead, the infrastructure was divided into three parts.
The first section had to cost a maximum of 336 million in direct payments to the successful bidder throughout the concession (what is known as canon).
Almost 20 years later, its cost may exceed 700 million when the agreement ends, in 2032, according to the Chamber of Accounts.
Thus, the three sections of the M-45 were going to leave for a total of more than 920 million, as calculated by the Administration, and may end up assuming more than 1,710, according to the supervisory body.
The M-501, which also operates under the shadow toll modality between its junction with the M-40 and kilometer 22, would go from 197 million to 274.
And the M-407, already inaugurated by Aguirre, would shoot up from 235 to 246 million, always according to data from the Chamber of Accounts.
Thus, in all the concessions the initially planned investment has been modified, which has led to economic-financial rebalancing processes for a total of 204,117,898 euros.
In addition, the payments made by the Community to the concessionaire companies (including the M-404) from the beginning of the concessions until December 31, 2018 amount to 1,733,564,373 euros.
And to top it off, the final cost is impossible to calculate yet, as noted in the report.
The reason?
First, that the concession companies have asked the Community to compensate them with a total of more than eight million euros for the loss of business caused by the confinements decided to combat the coronavirus, and which resulted in an abrupt drop in the volume of circulation. .
In addition, the concessionaire of section I of the M-45 has requested another rebalancing due to the loss of traffic as a result of the union of the M-45 with the M-50.
There are pending legal disputes between the parties.
And, in parallel, the Administration claims 155 million from one of the awardees, understanding that she received excessive payments between 2006 and 2017 (a consequence of the fact that the traffic measurement depended on the auditee and not the inspector).
“The facts described generate uncertainty about the total cost of these concessions for the Community of Madrid until they are resolved”, specifies the report of the Chamber of Accounts, where the Community is also disfigured that has rushed all the instances in litigation that he already knew lost, and that he has been slow to pay the consequent judgments against, generating a million-dollar bill for default interest.
“The fact of not assuming the payment of the obligations derived from the extra cost of the expropriations, which by contract corresponds to it, and waiting for the final judicial resolution of the processes initiated by the concessionaires, generates additional expenses in terms of interest, contrary to the principles of economy and efficiency that should govern the management of public funds, a fact that is aggravated in those cases in which payment is delayed beyond the moment in which the sentence is handed down,” the document reads.
“For the sake of efficient management of public resources, the Administration must proceed to pay its obligations within the established period, avoiding going to court when said obligations are established in the contracts or jurisprudence has been established by the highest judicial body. ”.
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