VINCI Highways, subsidiary of VINCI Concessions, has officially taken over operations yesterday on Belo Horizonte-Cristalina highway (Via Cristais), under a 30-year concession contract, awarded by the Brazilian National Land Transportation Agency (ANTT) in September 2024.

A 594 km section of the Rio de Janeiro-Brasilia highway, Via Cristais connects the cities of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais, and Cristalina, in the state of Goias. A strategic highway for the transport of mining, industrial and agricultural production to the ports of the South coast, it achieved 17.5 million transactions in 2023, with 40% heavy vehicles.

The cooperation between VINCI Highways and ANTT has enabled an efficient operational preparation. VINCI Highways has notably hired and trained a team of 300 employees, opened a new control centre, restarted tolling systems and resumed essential services such as roadside assistance. It will now start preparing the design and delivery of an ambitious works program that will expand capacity, improve safety, and upgrade quality of service. Construction works will be carried out under traffic and are to be completed by 2031.

With the integration of Via Cristais, following the acquisition in 2023 of Entrevias in the state of Sao Paulo, VINCI Highways now operates nearly 1200km in Brazil. It reinforces the footprint of VINCI Concessions in the Brazilian transport infrastructure, building on the successful development of VINCI Airports as the operator of 8 airports in the States of Bahia and Amazonas.

Nicolas Notebaert, Chief Executive Officer of Concessions at VINCI said: ‘We’re very happy to take over operations on Belo Horizonte-Cristalina highway. This new milestone marks a significant step in VINCI Concessions' development in Brazil and is yet another illustration of our commitment to contributing to the country's growth and enhancing connectivity for its people, with airports and highways.”

Belen Marcos, Executive Vice President of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Highways, declared: “The operational resumption of Via Cristais was carried out in an exemplary manner by our teams, who accomplished remarkable work in preparation. This commitment will remain our driving force for deploying our modernization and expansion plan, with a dual objective: to improve the experience of drivers and support local economic dynamism.”