The Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, does not hide his fury against the electric generators for the rebellion against the compulsory bonus and because he suspects that they went to report to the International Monetary Fund that it breached the contracts.
“Toto”, who, as LPO announced, is going through a moment of extreme tension, was heard saying privately that he wants to “destroy” companies in the energy sector because they are “all thieves” and “they took everything.”
Caputo exploded when the CEO of the AES firm, Martín Genesio, one of the generators with restructured debt with a 14-year bond, revealed the concern of the IMF, the Department of State, the Department of Energy and the North American Embassy, for the breach of contracts and legal security.
Genesio publicly stated that he received calls from the IMF and different areas of the United States government to ask him about the impact of this reprofiling on energy companies. The measure had already been rejected by the Association of Electric Energy Generators of the Argentine Republic (AGEERA).
The matter is generating enormous nervousness in the market: in recent days Argentine bonds and stocks fell 9.4% on Wall Street and the country risk increased 1.4% to 1,251 basis points, a record since mid of April. In addition, a report from the Bloomberg agency assures that US investment banks changed their positions on investing in Argentine bonds.
War at the top of power: Santiago Caputo and Karina Milei against Toto Caputo and Posse
Strictly speaking, Caputo was already quite angry. Prior to Genesio’s statements, he had received a letter from the Chamber of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production (CEPH) in which he assured that the proposal “affects the contractual rights” of its member companies.
Both sequences were a splash of cold water. In the Treasury Palace they discounted the support of the oil companies, which from the beginning of the negotiation showed a more friendly position than the generators.
The truth is that nationally owned oil companies like PAE joined YPF and accepted Caputo’s offer. Unlike generators that have large credits abroad, hydrocarbon producers have a greater backing guaranteed by exports.
That is why the statement from the Chamber that brings together the oil companies was like a stab in the minister’s back. From the industry they explained to LPO that “transnational companies, such as Total or Shell, cannot omit a statement on the breaking of contracts because they are observed by their parent companies.”
The debt with the producers is 40% of the total. Meanwhile, the debt with the generators accounts for the remaining 60%. The affected generators are Central Puerto, Pampa Energia, YPF Luz, AES, Albanesi, Enel, Genneia and MSU Energy. The main players in the sector.
Regarding the concern of the Fund and the United States, LPO was able to confirm that the news left the agency’s officials “perplexed.” “Caputo shot himself in the foot. It is as if you had stopped paying a mortgage loan and at the same time you are requesting financing for a productive project,” illustrated the source consulted. “In this case they are the same windows: the investment funds that Caputo wants to seduce are the same ones that operate with the shares of listed energy companies.”
