Argentina takes official control of YPF; Rajoy asks: who can trust that country?
The Argentine decision to seize control of 51% of YPF oil and gas giant came into effect on Monday as a decree was published on the Official Gazette. From Spain a new barrage of criticisms in support of Repsol and condemning Argentina started the week.
The law numbered 26.741 and made official with decree 660/2012 establishes that YPF has an essential role in Argentina’s hydrocarbon policy, therefore, it is considered to be “of national public interest.” The nationalization of the company, the rule establishes, should be at the top of the national priorities.
“Amongst Argentina’s main objectives with YPF are to ensure abundant hydrocarbons’ supply, as well as its exploration, industrialization, transportation and commercialization,” the decree stated.
Last Friday during a nation-wide televised speech, President Cristina Fernández praised the approval of the YPF expropriation law on Friday, which had been passed by the Lower House on Thursday.
With the expropriation, the national government now owns 26.03% of YPF shares while the oil rich provinces control 24.99% of the stakes. The Petersen Group accounts for other 24.99% of the shares and the remaining 17.09% of stocks are listed on the Buenos Aires and New York Stock Exchanges.
From Madrid Spain’s President Mariano Rajoy said that the seizure of YPF from Repsol has to do more with Argentina’s weakness than Spain’s current fragility.
“The expropriation has to do with a search for hiding points of weakness by taking some decisions that show certain authority” Rajoy said.
He added that “this kind of measures affect in a much larger way the country that takes them than the expropriated company. Who can now trust and invest in a country that takes such decisions without giving a single explanation?”
Likewise Spain’s Vice President Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría said that Latin American countries must ensure legal security if they want to keep receiving an influx of investments.
Speaking during a meeting of Ibero-American ministries, Saenz de Santamaria defended the need of Latin American being a region “open to the world and business.”
“Spain is more than willing to renovate its relationships with all Spanish-speaking countries in a sense of mutual respect for democracy”, she said.
A total of 22 Spanish-speaking countries are participating in the meeting. Argentina has not sent any minister, but a diplomat representative from the Argentine Embassy in Madrid.
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www.buenosairesherald.com/article/100181/repsol-warns-oil-giants-to-sue-if-they-join-ypf-british-paper
It would seem your nation's two major problems of economics and history reside in you.
You remain technically unable to repay debts therefore your country remains bankrupt and unable to borrow from the world markets hence your president raping private pensions for some liquidity.
If Argentina isnt bankrupt (yet) it is only because you have stolen money from everything and anything you can such as pension funds, central bank YPF etc. etc.
Eventually you will have nothing left to steal in your poverty stricken country and then your Govt will have to invade another country to get more assets to steal unfortunately your armed forces are defunct as your paranoid president is too scared of a military coup so you will then be left with the sum total of fuckall.
Happy days.
@1 And no, fuckall aint a stately home:-)))))
You blinded by the CFK bullshit or you actually brain-dead?
www.gregpalast.com/the-globalizer-who-came-in-from-the-cold/
Ah but don't you know? Standard and Poor's is just a corrupt western world organisation working to support the west and suppress the rest (like Argentina).
You're clearly a weak troll, but this is how your failed state is seen by the world....
www.nationalreview.com/articles/299154/what-s-wrong-argentina-matthew-shaffer?page=5
Talk about deluded...well ignorance is bliss..is it not?
The EU is going through a difficult process of re-structuring its debt and balancing the economy WITHOUT defaulting. It may not succeed but it is trying. The Argentinean method is to say, this is way too difficult let's just not pay anything back. If the EU did this, the entire global system would collapse.
Europe may be envious of the growth rate of many develloping countries right now, but Argentina is not one of them.
One of the richest countries in the world is close to implosion. It is a huge shame. Argentina should be helping to feed the world's starving and contributing to global organisations, but it is drowning in its own shit. The UK gave U$1600 million pounds to the world heath org last year. How much did Argentina give? France and Germany give similar amounts and that is just one organisation. Who pays the bills at the UN? Who gives disproportionately more than they should and who gives less?
Even here in SAmerica the EU funds humanitarian projects in several countries and those projects remain committed despite the EU's problems. What does Argentina do? Who does it help? It just wastes it wealth and blames everyone else. It is so obsessed with its own problems that it helps nobody.
To : Mrs Cristina Fernadez de Kirchner
President of the Republic of Argentina
C/O Casa Rosada
Plaza De Mayo
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Your Most Exalted Excellency,
I am writing in response to your continued demands for the transfer of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands .
Having consulted with my colleagues, the British readers of the Daily Telegraph and the Falklands Islands legislature, I am afraid your request has been refused.
However, being British, magnanimous and fair , we cannot see you leave the negotiating table empty handed.
HM The Queen has graciously commanded that henceforth, Liverpool and its dependencies, Widnes and Runcorn , will be ceded to Argentina in perpetuity.
The population of Liverpool is very similar to the rest of the Argentine people, so will assimilate very quickly.
You will also be pleased to know that the whole of Ireland is on Liverpool's continental shelf, so you will no doubt be claiming that as well, especially since a great part of the Spanish armada was wrecked off the Irish coast, which automatically makes it Argentine territory.
The owners of Liverpool FC and Everton FC have confirmed they are looking forward to playing in the Belgrano League, though they admit away matches will be a bit of a strain.
It's only fair to warn you that buying the votes of scousers will cost you a little more than votes in Lanus or Avellaneda.
They will expect a council house, £300 pw, a pair of white trainers and a Plasma TV.
As a thank you to your good self in being so patient with us, Her Majesty has graciously presented you with some Harrods gift vouchers, a William & Kate souvenir pack with a mug, tea towel and DVD and a brown envelope containing an unspecified amount of cash in US dollars.
Yours sincerely
The Right Hon William Hague
Foreign secretary.
her Britannic Majesty's Government
London SW1
Or should that read “The UK gave U$s 1600 million Japanese euros”
Sorry but that was irresistible.
Argentina took land from its neighbours in numberous wars , civil wars and land grabs - Paraguay, Uraguay, Chile. Today Argentina despite the changed political landscape is still a nation characterised by uber nationalism. The claim to the Falklands was surendered in 1850 but reserected in 1941 by a fascist junta, which inc Peron, they thought their friends the Nazi were going to win the war, the Falklands looked easy picking.
In 1982 Argentina was under the latest succession of a series of fascism military junta's. Their hold on power was looking precarious, in deperation they sort a war, Chile looked like a good victim, they already claimed lots of land and were ignoring the international tribunals that had ruled in Chile's favor. But then they changed their mind and invaded the Falklands. Today the war is romanticized by a nation ruled by a kind of cross between a Neo-Nazi uber nationalist and a Charvesta Revolutionary uber Marxist. The only thing missing is the land reform. Maybe that's for later? But as few natives remain, maybe they'll just ignore their rights... God knows they always have. An entire culture replaced by a European one. Entire languages destroyed.
Timmerman should take time to read about his country's history.
Now that was irresistible ;)
Everybody knows he is in the Government to defend corporations. Spain has such a rich history and culture... that is the Spain he should defend, the Spain of wonderful architecture, the Spain of the Picassos, of the great writers.
What a pity that Spain has a government that is dedicating its time to defend a company that has not much to do with the Spanish people.
REPSOL has enriched more and more while the production in Argentina was everytime less. They didn't invest that money in Spain or for the good of Spanish people.
If they were making so much profit out of the Argentine resources they should at least invest it in their own country... but we all know big companies have no flag, REPSOL cares nothing about Spanish or Argentine people, why should the Spanish Government defend their claim then??
How is REPSOL gonna demonstrate that the company values all that money they want to get??? ALL LIES.
I'm with GreekYoghurt on this one.... “...and when the crash does come the world shall hold it's breath at the finality of it” I think that when that day does come ( and believe me ladies, gentlemen, and Le camping it IS coming ) KFC will go from hero to zero in less time than it takes to say “Is there anything for dinner tonight?”
It's patently obvious you don't understand how modern business works. When you mention REPSOL investment in Spain, what you really mean to say is it has invested a great deal in Spain in terms of job creation, public schemes and paying its taxes.
You know what is most shameful for Argentine people is stealing the Spanish company YPF in their time of need and turning your back on your oldest ally. Have the Argentine people no decency, loyalty or integrity? Spain has supported Argentina when it was obviously damaging to its own relations to do so and stood by Argentina in its time of need and now when it needs support Argentina steals from it slanders its government and people.
Now don't get me wrong, I understand why Argentina has done this. It has no credit is running very low on funds, inflation at over 30% (from the latest reports) and is in itself a terrible position, so there is some sense in stealing the largest company in Argentina.
Shameful, truly shameful.
That's the sort of support Spain gives Argtardia.
Nobody in his/her right mind.
Philippe
No one stood by Argentina during its time of need. Not that we ended up needing it anyway. Unlike all countries in the era since Bretton-woods (including the UK which was granted a 2.8 billion pound bailout in '75, about 30 billion of today's U$D), Argentina got out of its economic depression completely alone.
Perhaps now people may understand why Argentina and argentines feel they really can get by without what are veiled enemies in the nations of Europe, North America, Asia, Mercosur, etc. We survived 2001-2002, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
“Argentina got out of its economic depression completely alone”
Only by defaulting on all its debts. Which makes you lying thieves.
Well it is in times of need that you find out who your friends are. If you steal from everyone and help no one you can't expect any more than that.
The difference between the UK bail out in '75 and Argentina's position is that the UK is a net contributor to the IMF where as Argentina defaulted on over U$100 billion.
Is Argentina stronger today? I would like to hear some of the reasons for that.
If you can make a success of YPF and balance the budget you might be right, otherwise it doesn't look good.
I have worked on joint Chilean-Argentinean projects where everything gets held up on the Argentine side: corruption, incompetence no spare parts and so on. In the end we have to send more Chileans to work in the Argentina side and run everything from here, sending spares from here to Argentina and paying off customs officials. Even the supermarkets are empty in the western provinces. This of course is my limited experience but the country looks to be in a complete mess.
Argentina needs a leader to come in and talk some home truths and fix the institutions. I don’t see how you can advance with the level of corruption. I have seen better police forces in Africa, that’s no joke.
@16
That is all well and good, but companies belong to many people and pension funds. When you steal, you steal from them. How would you like your pension stolen? Nationalise, ok, but pay what is due.
All other countries that were in crisis did not default on their debts because they were bailed out, otherwise they would have gone under. Nothing special or criminal about Argentina's case.
Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Philipines, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, have all been bailed out in the last decades by the IMF. Before that several mainland Euro nations including the UK. Recently Greece, Ireland, Iceland, and Portugal (first world countries, some of the “nordic” with the implications of low-corruption, and yet still fell to crisis).The USA bailed itself out via China otherwise its banking system would have totally collapsed.
When any of your countries recovers from a crisis without being bailed out (Marshall plans or IMF), come to any argentine and brag about it. Until then, we were stronger than you, end of story.
So by your logic, Chile is stronger than Argentina because it has never been bailed out nor defaulted on loans. I would agree with you.
Re the UK, you seem to ignore the point that the UK is a net contributor to the IMF, i.e. it takes out less than it puts in to the pot. Argentina is a serial defaulter, puts nothing in the pot and refuses to repay what it has borrowed.
With your extreme isolationist views, North Korea must be the ideal state.
Very strange logic: “we stole from our creditors, instread of getting a bail out and paying everyone back in the end, so we are strong”. Sounds a bit like the sort of comment you get from school playground bullies.
By defaulting on your loans you STEAL from your creditors. Far better to be bailed out - which means that you end up paying everyone back.
So why did Argentina not choose the bail out route? Because the IMF would have imposed an economic regime which would quickly have shattered argentinian delusions as to their reputed power and strength.
Fact is, Argentina is 27th by GDP, 57th by GDP per capita, 100th in the TI corruption index, and rated B by S&P. All in all, that's nothing to be proud of, given the country's natural resources and the position it occupied in the 1920's.
So, you are a bunch of lying thieves, and far far poorer and weaker than the UK - or Spain for that matter. End of story.
Chile in 1982 was completely destroyed, worse than Argentina in 2002.
@28
Yes, yes, yes. Going bankrupt is theft, that is why it is enshrined in the laws of of almost all nations as a legitimate way of surviving a credit crunch or exceptional circumstance.
I wonder who do you think you are trying to convince with your arrantly incoherent adult fibs.
I agree that Chile was ruined in 1982 but we are talking about 2012.
You don’t need to tell me about the damage done by the populist, nationalising, protectionist Allende government or the early days of Pinochet.
Chile was weak then, but it is stronger now. Argentina is weak now.
Chile is almost unrecognisable from the country it was in ’82. Argentina is the same, lurching from crisis to crisis, still obsessed with the Falklands.
Economic migration is not a bail out, but it is a good measure of a country’s weakness. People fled Chile in the 70s/80s to escape poverty and political persecution. Today there is massive immigration to Chile, especially from Argentina. Do you live in Argentina? Have you seen the poverty in the provinces. To brag about proudly self-destructing shows no care for the Argentine people. People struggling to survive. The mining towns of Chile are swamped with Argentinean girls selling themselves – that is the cruel reality of your proud implosion. Do you not care for these compatriots?
Tough.
May 08th, 2012 - 03:35 pm
I'm afraid that tobias is in the sad position of being a lonely Argentine trying to justify the unjustifiable on his own.
Under such circumstances his answer will not be totally “sane”. He'll be forced to try to answer from within his nationalism, not from a sense of patriotism.
As a patriot he would be horrified at what his “compartiotas” are going through to survive the Kirchner plague, but as a nationalist he will be forced to say “I don't care, the country comes first.”
Sad.
You may convice non-South Americans condorito, but we both know the truth.
There is no massive argie immigration to Chile. There is no massive exudus from Argentina to Europe like in 2001, where are the lines of the embassies in Argentina? Answer, there are none. So you know and I know you are making that up.
Also, Argentina receives far more South american immigrants than Chile does. Remember, Chile still has mines on the Bolivian/Peruvian borders. Does that sound like a progressive country?
The poverty in the provinces? I live in a province called Mendoza, and most people pro or anti can't really say anything but that is a clean, relatively prosperous place. Sorry.
The north of Argentina was always poor. It was poor in 1912, it is poor now.
“I trust Argentina and I am Argentine”.
So, Pratt-Junta, as you despise us Brits (and everyone else by the look of your post) WTF do you live in Canada.
A former British Colony? What a hypocrit.
I live in Chicureo (Near Santiago) and I travel to Mendoza, on a regular basis. As he describes it, clean, prosperous and an enjoyable place to visit. Plenty of good paying jobs for those seeking employment.
Very good restaurants and excellent wineries. In general, very good people as well, much friendlier than residents of BA.
Condorito is correct also: “Chile is almost unrecognisable from the country it was in ’82” I was near the Costanera Center yesterday and still can't fathom the massive 67 story tower that they're finishing there.
Two things I can't stand about Argentina*: The corruption and the politicians
(*There are about 20 I hate about Chile.)
(Cheap shot about the mines Tobias. There's a good reason for them. I also understand there are land mines still in the Falklands...)
It's just how they roll.
Bankruptcy is for INDIVIDUALS, you moron.
But do you know what happens if you go bankrupt? A committee of creditors is appointed and takes over control of ALL your assets, with a few minor exemptions (like your clothes, bedding and tools), and these pass to your CREDITORS.
Argentina did not go bankrupt - there is no provision for this in international law, which is a shame because your assets would have been passed to your creditors.
What happened was that Argentina simply threw a tantrum and decided to stop paying. And before you start on about rich banks being able to afford the resulting losses, just remember that in developed countries the largest shareholders are the pension funds. And that's why you are all a bunch of lying thieves.
Argentina's politicians have been just terminally stupid ever since Juan Perón. Even though he was a criminal personality, an overt admirer of Mussolini, and openly sympathetic to Hitler, Perón has become such a cultural icon that you can't do anything in Argentina today without at least calling yourself a Perónist. It's rather like in the US, where, if you don't think that FDR was a hero for getting the US out of the Great Depression, you're persona non grata. Perón is Argentina's Roosevelt.
More recently, former president Nestor Kirchner – late husband of Cristina, the current president – was a total disaster. All of his policies were completely wrong-headed and destructive, but he had the good luck to get elected just as the commodities boom got under way, and demand for Argentine agricultural and mineral products soared. That paid for a lot of social spending and made him look like a hero, even though everything he did was the exact opposite of what needed doing.
This is true of Cristina too, but she's actually outdone her husband in implementing economically suicidal policies. Every single week, her government does something that's bizarre, counterproductive, or absurd. The most recent and serious blunder, of course, was the nationalization of YPF – but just a few weeks ago, her government tried to ban the importation of books. It wasn't because they cared what was in the books, it was part of the effort to limit imports in general.
Please provide the statute that states that sovereign defaults are illegal.
Argentina didn't go against the Spanish Government when IBERIA left Aerolineas Argentinas in a terrific situation, as an almost dead company, Argentina didn't go against the Canadian Government when ScotiaBank left the country without giving Argentina media classes their money back...
A Spanish Governor shouldn't stand by Repsol if it was really dedicated to spanish media/workers classes.
In fact Spain was little by little in its way to crisis while REPSOL was making astronomic profit during the last decade. What has REPSOL done for the good of Spain???
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