Santos box contract under investigation

An unnamed source has claimed that fraud was involved in the composition of the consortium that was awarded the concession. Were this found to be true, the public prosecutor, Thiago Lacerda Nobre, says it would provide grounds to annul the contract.

In documents sent to the prosecutor, a director of Santos Brasil’s parent company, Opportunity, is apparently said to have guaranteed that the Libra Group, which also handles containers in the port, would be allowed to participate in the concession, despite the fact that its existing presence in the same area of the port as the new terminal would have made this impossible.

The concession, which dates to 1997, was awarded by Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (Codesp) for a period of 25 years, expiring in 2022. However, Santos Brasil has since been guaranteed a concession extension until 2047.