The total value of economic and financial rebalancing requests in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Portugal - along with other PPP-related contingencies for the State - jumped last year, driven by motorway PPPs. According to the General Government Account (CGE) released by the Ministry of Finance, rebalancing requests linked to road PPPs ended 2025 at €2360 million, almost double the €1240 million recorded at the end of the previous year.
The CGE attributes the rise of more than €1,1 billion to several motorway concessions, with the Brisa concession standing out. The company argues it is entitled to an adjustment of up to €1122,5 million in the amounts it is due to receive. A “negotiation procedure” is under way in relation to this concession operated by the company led by António Pires de Lima.
Brisa’s annual report and accounts only notes that: "at the end of 2024 a new Negotiation Committee was set up, with reference to the Brisa Concession Agreement, whose work began during 2025 and continues, covering various matters arising from the relationship between the State and the concessionaire".
Motorway PPPs: Brisa and other disputes behind the rise
With a smaller effect on the overall figures, the Baixo Alentejo sub-concession (operated since 2021 by France’s Vauban Infrastructure Partners) shows an estimated contingency of €9,1 million, linked to arbitration proceedings concerning the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.
Separately, the Portuguese State revised its estimate of what it may have to pay in the Douro Litoral Concession dispute (also tied to the covid-19 impact) from €124 million to €137 million. This concession belongs to the UK firm Igneo Infrastructure Partners.
In the Algarve concession, the start of arbitration proceedings relating to the calculation of interest for delays in benefit-sharing (covering the period from 2015 to 2022) “gave rise to a new estimated contingency of around €0,7 million”, the CGE states.
What these PPP contingencies mean for the State
The impact of these proceedings - most notably Brisa’s - was partially offset by the implementation of an arbitration decision regarding the Algarve Litoral concession, which reduced the State’s contingency (that is, the amount that may still have to be paid) from €340 million to €325 million.
Under the amended Algarve concession contract, the State also paid €8,5 million last year, removing a contingency previously recorded in that amount. In addition, under the amended contract for the Norte Litoral concession (covering the A27 and A28 motorways and operated by the UK-based Igneo) it paid a further €1,7 million, eliminating the contingency booked for that value.
Costs until 2062
The sharpest deterioration in contingencies for the State was registered in road concessions. In rail, the existing PPPs ended 2025 with estimated contingencies of €199,6 million, only half a million higher than the value reported at the end of the previous year - a change explained by a rebalancing request from Metro do Porto following higher insurance costs.
In airport concessions, the value of contingencies was unchanged versus 2024, at €210,9 million. This figure relates to arbitration initiated by Vinci in early 2024, citing an alleged loss of revenue due to air-traffic restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic.
It is worth noting that these figures capture only the risk of additional charges the State may face as a result of PPP rebalancing requests or disputes over payments to concessionaires; they do not include the contractually forecast costs already embedded in the partnerships.
According to the CGE, in 2025 the State incurred expenditure of €1159 million on the 42 PPPs in place in the country, which was 3,1% above the budgeted amount for the year. The overrun was driven by higher costs on roads and in rail. In health, spending came in below budget, due to delays in building the Hospital de Lisboa Oriental.
PPP-related State charges will run until 2062 (the final concession still in force - the airports concession - runs to that date). A peak of €1,9 billion is expected in the current year, which should fall between 2027 and 2029 before rising again in 2030. Current road concessions will end in 2040, rail concessions will run to 2055, and health PPPs will run to 2054.
Contingencies in health PPPs shrink
In health, the contingencies recorded by the State at the end of 2025 fell, closing the year at €98,2 million, down €13,8 million on 2024. This was mainly because the State paid €10,2 million to the operator of Hospital de Cascais (part of Spain’s Ribera group) for the covid-19 impact, plus €1,3 million related to hepatitis C treatment.
In addition, the contingency for Hospital de Braga dropped from €1,6 million to €0,7 million following an arbitration decision. (This PPP was operated until 2019 by the José de Mello group, which nonetheless maintained legal disputes linked to the partnership.) At Hospital de Vila Franca de Xira (whose PPP the Mello group has also already ended), the contingency value of the covid-19-related rebalancing request fell from €21 million to €18,4 million.
Even so, the CGE reports that last year saw two new disputes emerge involving Hospital de Cascais, concerning disagreements over payments of €5,2 million for 2022 and €6,1 million for the period from 2013 to 2021.
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