Some energy companies accepted Caputo’s proposal for the payment of Cammesa’s debt

(EFE/Neil Hall)

This week the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, announced that he will pay with the AE38 bond, which is currently trading at 50% below par, a debt of USD 1.2 billion accumulated by the State for not paying the costs of energy generation and provision of electricity. natural gas for thermal plants.

The proposal had been received negatively by companies in the sector if one takes into account that it forces private companies to be willing to accept a reduction of half of the capital owed by CAMMESA (Company Administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Market Sociedad Anónima). The minister maintained that bond prices will rise in the coming months as the macroeconomy stabilizes.

Leading companies in the sector such as PAE (Pan American Energy) and YPF (controlled by the State) had said that they were going to accompany the same meeting in which the proposal was made.

From YPF, this Friday it emerged that the acceptance of the call was presented to investors, within the framework of the presentation of the company’s quarterly balance sheet. And in the case of YPF Luz, it is estimated that the official proposal is under analysis, although it must be agreed upon with private partners (General Electric) so it is not a decision that can be made unilaterally.

This Friday, the Albanesi Group joins this group that validates the proposal for payment with bonds made by Minister Caputo, which issued a statement, and also Pluspetrol, willing to accept and sign, although it did not issue any statement in this regard.

However, the conflict is not resolved, since other companies expressed their rejection of payment with bonuses. On Thursday, the CEO of AES Argentina, a subsidiary of a United States company, Martín Genesio, assured this Thursday that he received calls from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the North American Department of State, the Department of Energy and the Embassy of that country for the Government’s decision to defer with a dollar bond until 2038, with a parity of 50%, the debt that Cammesa maintains with the generators for December and January.

In the same sense, the Chamber of Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production (CEPH) sent a letter addressed to Caputo and the Secretary of Energy, Eduardo Rodriguez Chirillo, rejecting the Resolution of the Ministry of Energy 58/2024 that established the form of payment of CAMMESA debt. “We inform you that the majority of the Producers gathered in this Chamber reject the payment method provided for in the Resolution,” says the response signed by Carlos Ormachea, president of the CEPH. “The resolution affects the contractual rights of the producers under the contracts entered into with CAMMESA,” he added.

This Friday the Albanesi Group issued a statement in which it made explicit its acceptance of the collection of CAMMESA’s debt: “Given the complex situation that the country is going through, the Albanesi Group communicates that it adhered to the proposal made by the Ministry of Energy dependent on the Ministry of Economy of the Nation, through which CAMMESA was instructed to sign the corresponding agreements with the creditors of the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) according to Resolution 58/2024 and Resolution 66/2024.

“As a result of the moment of expansion that the Albanesi Group is experiencing in the midst of the investment process, we have the need to prioritize the contractual commitments assumed in a timely manner with our investors and face financial obligations. This is the acceptance of said exceptional, transitory and unique proposal, through the signing of the corresponding agreement. However, the Albanesi Group has supported the demand of the electricity generation sector, which legitimately demands payment for the energy delivered to the system during the last four months and compliance with current contracts. Pampa and Central Puerto, which did not accept the proposal, have the majority of the electricity market.