Romeo Zema and the explosion of no-bid contracts in Minas Gerais | capital Cities

Romeo Zema’s administration as Governor of Minas Gerais saw an explosion in contracts with bids being awarded

Romeo Zema’s government in Minas Gerais piled up a ton of contracts with no bids. During his first four years as governor, the state paid out R$9.6 billion in contracts in a “tender-forward” mode.

The value represents 62% more compared to the four years of the previous administration of Fernando Pimentel, who spent R5.9 billion on contracts of this type.

The high point of Romeo Zema’s administration occurred in 2021, when contracts worth R$6.7 billion were signed without bidding. Ordered from the column, Zima spoke through a note he had sent Planning Department.

In it, the government stated that the data provided on the Transparency Portal is “insufficient for an in-depth analysis on the topic.” He claims that this is “due to the administrative autonomy of the bodies and entities to carry out the bidding processes”.

The Zima government also claims that certain factors have contributed to the growth of no-bid contracts. Among them, the state of public disaster decree between 2020 and 2021, resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government of Minas Gerais also noted the “economic variation in prices and the natural increase due to inflation during the pandemic period and market fluctuations”.

For peak 2021, Zema’s management says it spent R$4.2 billion on public company Minas Gerais Administração e Serviços SA. The contract, it says, was for “the provision of services aimed at continuing the flow of work performed within the scope of activities of the 46 state bodies and entities for a period of 60 months”.

The government claims that “centralized contracting, through a single company contract, has led to lower prices and more procedural rationality”.