BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Argentina was exposed to the embargo of assets abroad after a New York court rejected a request from the South American country to suspend that measure within the framework of the trial for the expropriation of the oil company YPF in 2012.
Judge Loretta Presk, who last September condemned Argentina to pay 16.1 billion dollars to a group of shareholders victims of the oil company, considered that “a reasonable period of time has elapsed in accordance with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities for the purposes of seizing and executing against assets of the Argentine Republic,” according to the ruling released this Thursday.
A decade ago, the center-left government of Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) expropriated through a law of Congress 51% of the shares of YPF, then under the control of the Spanish company Repsol. The remaining percentage was distributed among oil provinces.
Repsol, which had acquired YPF in 1993, was compensated with $5 billion in 2014.
But the minority shareholders Petersen Energía Inversora and Eton Park They sued Argentina and the oil company before a New York court between 2015 and 2016, alleging breach of contract. The English fund Burford Capital then acquired Petersen’s claim and continued the litigation.
“Almost four months have passed since the September 15, 2023 ruling was handed down. During this time, the Republic has taken a variety of actions, including appealing to the Court of Appeals… to delay and evade its obligations in the trial,” the judge argued.
“There is no attempt to pay the final judgment,” he said.
The government of far-right Javier Milei, which took office on December 10, did not officially comment on the ruling.
The president, however, used his social networks to replicate the message of a follower who questioned the legal strategy of the Kirchnerist governments to defend the country before the US court.
YPF is among the public companies that Milei intends to privatize.
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2024-01-12 01:28:19
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