State housing company COVIARA is placed under intervention for 180 days

The National Executive Branch has ordered the intervention for 180 business days of the State Company “Construcción de Vivienda para la Armada” (COVIARA) and appointed Navy Captain Marcial Eduardo Pérez as the interventor. The measure was adopted through Decree 817/2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic on August 28, 2026, in the first section, and signed by President Javier Milei, Chief of Cabinet Guillermo Francos, and Minister of Economy Luis Caputo.

The objective of the intervention is to complete the transformation of COVIARA into “Construcción de Vivienda para la Armada Sociedad Anónima Unipersonal” (COVIARA S.A.U.) and its subsequent merger by absorption by “Playas Ferroviarias de Buenos Aires Sociedad Anónima”, in accordance with the orders of Decree 117/25 of February 19, 2025.

Process Background

COVIARA was created by Decree 2042/66 as a compliance body for Law 14.135, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. Necessity and Urgency Decree 70/23 repealed the legal regime of State Companies and ordered their transformation into corporations, while the Bases Law 27.742 empowered the Executive to order the merger of these companies.

Within that framework, Decree 117/25 ordered the transformation of COVIARA into COVIARA S.A.U., with the National State as the sole shareholder, and its subsequent merger by absorption by Playas Ferroviarias de Buenos Aires S.A., with the dissolution without liquidation of the former.

Reasons for the Intervention

The decree indicates that, despite the time elapsed since the issuance of Decree 117/25, the intended corporate result has not yet been achieved. Ministry of Defense Resolution 287/26 accepted, as of March 31, 2026, the resignation of the Chairman of the Board, and various director positions remain vacant, which prevents the administrative body from being fully integrated.

The intervention seeks to overcome this vacancy and ensure the continuity of the company’s leadership. The interventor will exclusively exercise the administration and representation of COVIARA and COVIARA S.A.U., and will assume the competencies of the Board of Directors, with powers to:

• Appoint and remove officials and personnel of the company.
• Carry out the service contracts necessary for the fulfillment of the objective.
• Resolve and terminate existing contracts that affect the continuity of services.

Supervision and Scope

The process will be jointly supervised by the Ministry of Defense and the Temporary Special Executing Unit “Public Company Transformation Agency” of the Ministry of Economy, which may issue complementary regulations. The decree, processed under File EX-2026-81003750-APN-SIPIYPD#MD, entered into force on the day of its issuance, August 27, 2026.

The measure is part of the restructuring and privatization plan for state-owned companies promoted by the Government, and directly affects the Navy’s public housing works, whose projects and works in progress must be transferred within the framework of the ordered transformation and merger.

Source: Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic, August 28, 2026, first section (official reference: Decree 817/2026, DECTO-2026-817-APN-PTE).