2023-09-09 05:20:02
The economic damages in the trial for the expropriation of YPF amount to almost 16 billion dollars. The judge of the Southern District of New York Loretta Preska once once more ruled once morest the national State and ordered that Argentina must pay the compensation claimed by the Burford Capital fund for having improperly expropriated in 2012 the YPF shares that belonged to the company. oil company Repsol and the Eskenazi group.
From the national government, spokesperson Gabriela Cerruti confirmed through her X account (former Twitter) that the ruling will be appealed. “The Argentine government will immediately appeal Judge Loretta Preska’s ruling,” she said.
Cerruti assured that President Alberto Fernández analyzed the issue in line with the Treasury Office following his arrival in New Delhi, India, to participate in the summit of heads of state of the Group of 20 (see separate).
Regarding the amount of economic damages, although the North American judge did not set a figure for the improper expropriation of the YPF shares that belonged to Repsol and the Eskenazi group, she opted for the worst scenario for Argentina by deciding that the financial compensation proposed by the complaint was adequate.
While Burford Capital demanded that compensation be around US$16 billion, the Argentine State assured that this figure was around US$5 billion.
As Bloomberg Línea explained, in the conclusion of the ruling known yesterday, in which it decided the amount of US$ 16 billion, by applying a rate of 8%, Preska pointed out that “the court considers that the Republic (Argentina) exercised control indirectly on the required number of Repsol shares on April 16, 2012, thus triggering its public offering obligations.”
YPF was expropriated in 2012, during the government of Cristina Kirchner and when the Minister of Economy was Axel Kicillof. Judge Preska dedicated a harsh paragraph of her ruling to the current governor of the province of Buenos Aires: “Kicillof blatantly declared that it would be ‘stupid’ to comply with ‘YPF’s own law’ or ‘respect’ its statutes. Subsequently, the Republic enacted legislation that supposedly allowed him to acquire control of YPF without being ‘stupid’ and complying with the statutes,” Preska said.
The judge had already found Argentina responsible for wrongfully expropriating the oil company. Last March, she ruled once morest Argentina in the same trial initiated by the Burford Capital fund.
After eight years of litigation, the judge determined that the country – and not YPF – had to pay compensation while the plaintiffs were entitled to a summary judgment for breach of contract. In that trial that lasted three days, Judge Preska concluded that there was “expropriation malpractice” on the part of the Argentine State and for this reason the country had to pay the plaintiff.
According to YPF sources, Preska’s ruling “is a positive ruling” (for the oil company), because “the judge recognizes that the company had no responsibility and is not a guarantor of the national State, so its assets are out of risk.” .
Burford Capital is from a law firm that appeared in court with the rights to Petersen Energía, from the Eskenazi family, which had 25% of YPF before its expropriation. Founded in 2009 by former vice president and chief legal officer of Time Warner, Christopher Bogart, the Burford fund financed the claim since the beginning of the litigation, in 2015, and became one of the toughest litigants once morest Argentina.
Meanwhile, Eton Park entered YPF in 2010 with the purchase of 1.63% of the capital for regarding US$ 250 million.
Sebastián Maril, advisor to Research for Traders and expert on the trial, considered that Preska’s statement coincided with what “many expected: YPF, exonerated, and the Argentine Republic, guilty” (see page 4).
For the legal representation of the Argentine State, the amount to be paid should be computed in pesos on the date on which the measure is issued and then converted into dollars.
In June 2019, the US Supreme Court rejected a request from Argentina to end the lawsuit by former YPF shareholders.
Starting next Monday, representatives of the national State will have the opportunity to appeal or negotiate and the Burford Capital fund will be able to begin applying embargoes on Argentina’s sovereign assets.
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