The concessionaire accepts the GMI mechanism (or not) when it submits its “economic offer”; subsequently, for each year where the GMI is valid, the concessionaire may decide to make use of the funds. Concessionaire must present its GMI offer for years 1 to 13 of the operation phase (which can be equal to or lower than the maximum amounts offered by the government in the bidding documents as shown in table 3.5 of the concession agreement). If concessionaire chooses to take the minimum income for a specific year, it must pay a guarantee (according to a formula in the contract).

The agreement is for the duration of 25 years (renewable for another 25 years for public interest reasons). All risks are assumed by the private sector; in consequence, the full revenues go to the private sector - ie, toll revenues, commercial revenues and revenues from services rendered to third parties. The agreement provides for an optional “Guaranteed Minimum Income” (GMI) mechanism for the first 10 years of operation (clause 8.11) following the same guidelines as the contract above. The State of Costa Rica provides the land for the works (clause 1.5).

Article 10 mandates the country to provide for a national system of targeted cross-subsidies for water and sanitation services and complementary services, and guarantee easy access to such services to the poor. The subsidy will be financed through the tariff paid by users not categorized as poor or as extremely poor. Likewise, the decree provides for certain rules and requirements that this system has to comply with.

Related Information:

Tracking Number: CostaRicaConcessionLaws_2011_Spanish

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• The agreement is for 20 years (including construction). 
• All key operating risks are borne by the private sector (clause 15.1). 
• Agreement provides for a financial re-equilibrium clause for both private and public parties. Concessionaire is to be paid USD7 out of the USD26 charged from each passenger as “air exit fees”.

Civil law jurisdiction (Spanish). Concession agreement for the design, planning, financing, building, exploitation and maintenance of the new Puerto Moín Container Terminal in Costa Rica. The terminal is located within the existing seaport complex of Limon and Moín. 

Procuring Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships 2018 is designed to help governments improve their PPP regulatory quality. By benchmarking the regulatory frameworks of economies around the world against internationally recognized good practices in procuring PPPs, this assessment identifies areas for improvement in the preparation, procurement, and management of PPPs.

Mandates equal representation of men and women in the National Concessions Counsel (Consejo Nacional de Concesiones) (Article 6 No. 1 and 6).

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The Costa Rican government has not created a specific regulatory framework for procuring PPPs. The regulatory framework is available on the website of CNC, Consejo Nacional de Concessions. 

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The National Concessions Council (CNC) is a body under the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, for the purposes of administering the funds and budgets, and to conclude agreements and contracts.

It is based on the general law of concession of public works with public services (Law 7762), the general regulation of concession of public works with public services (Decree 27098-MOPT), the regulations for private initiative projects for the concession of public works or the concession of public works with public services (Decree 31836-MOPT) and their respective reforms.