BUENOS AIRES (AP) — A New York court condemned Argentina for the expropriation of the YPF oil company in 2012 and ordered compensation to the affected shareholders.
A decade ago, the government of Cristina Fernández (2007-2015) expropriated 51% of the shares of YPF by means of a law of Congress, at that time 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 5,000 million dollars in 2014.
But minority shareholders Petersen Energía Inversora and Eton Park sued Argentina and the oil company in a New York court between 2015 and 2016 alleging breach of contract. Then the English fund Burford Capital acquired Petersen’s claim and continued the litigation.
“The Republic did not initiate a public offering for outstanding shares of YPF’s capital stock in 2012,” Judge Loretta Presk of the District of New York concluded in a ruling released Friday.
The expropriation law sanctioned by Congress declared the self-sufficiency of hydrocarbons, as well as the exploration, exploitation, industrialization, transportation and commercialization of hydrocarbons, to be of national public interest and as a priority objective.
In a divided ruling, Judge Presk condemned the Argentine State, but exempted the YPF oil company on the grounds that it “was not a guarantor of the republic’s obligations.”
“The court agrees that the takeover bid price that the Republic would have been required to offer if the Republic complied with the statutes is the appropriate measure of plaintiffs’ compensatory damages,” the magistrate considered, referring to the compensation to be paid by the South American country.
However, it acknowledged that it cannot immediately quantify the compensation because it cannot specify the date on which Argentina activated its obligation to take over. Therefore, he advanced, “the court reserves judgment on the precise rate that it will use.”
In a statement to the press, YPF expressed that it is a positive ruling because the judge recognizes that the company had no responsibility and is not a guarantor of the national State. The Argentine government has ruled on the ruling.
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