El decaimiento del régimen de las Asociaciones Público-Privadas (APP) en Colombia

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to identify the main causes of the current decrease in the use of Public Private Partnerships - PPP - in the development of the country's infrastructure, since the issuance of Law 1508 of 2012 to date. To achieve this goal, a mixed type investigation was carried out with a causal correlational scope, while seeking to explain the relationship that exists between the problems that PPPs have had in Colombia and their lack of use in the latest infrastructure projects.  Furthermore, from a quantitative point of view, information was collected from the Single Registry of Public-Private Associations (RUAPP) and the Electronic System for Public Procurement (SECOP) to identify PPP projects and their duration.

As a result of the research, it was found that initially the PPPs were very well received, and as a result of the above, for example, they were used to implement the Fourth Generation of Road Concessions, but subsequently their use has been decreasing, which was reflected in the lowest number of projects filed and contracts signed in the last four (4) years.

As a conclusion of the research, among the different reasons that explain the decline of PPPs, delays in the structuring and contracting of projects are the main causes of their lack of use, since other contractual models can be used, such as concessions of Law 80 of 1993, to develop infrastructure projects in a shorter time and without all the requirements and approvals that a PPP requires, also by virtue of the principle of the autonomy of private will, incorporate the advantages of PPP projects.