MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

YPF takeover: “Dreadful decision for Spain, for Argentina and terrible for legal security”

Foreign Minister García-Margallo next to Industry minister Soria: “discriminatory and arbitrary”

The Spanish government condemned Argentina’s announcement over the expropriation of YPF, calling it a “discriminatory” and “arbitrary” decision, and stated that it will adopt any measures deemed necessary to defend the interests of Repsol and every other Spanish company.

Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo held a press conference on Monday along with Industry Minister José Manuel Soria, in which they reported the Executive branch’s decision and affirmed that Argentina has “broken” the traditional bilateral relation between both countries.

Soria assured that the Argentine government “has not fulfilled the agreement reached on February 28 with Planning Minister Julio De Vido and Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino” which stated that “any differences regarding YPF had to be resolved in a friendly way by both governments.”

Both ministers stated that the Spanish government will act in consequence with this decision and added that “starting this afternoon, we’ll be working on which measures to adopt, and we will announce them within the next few days.”

García-Margallo affirmed during the press conference that the expropriation is “an aggressive measure to the Argentine people” and confirmed that it is a “dreadful decision for Spain, a dreadful decision for Argentina and a terrible decision for legal security.”

The ministers also insisted on repeating President Mariano Rajoy’s statements given earlier on Monday, when he guaranteed that “wherever there’s a Spanish company, the government will be there, defending its interests.”

Meanwhile Repsol released a statement on Monday in response to the Argentine government’s announcement of the YPF expropriation, which it called “illicit and gravely discriminatory.” The company also announced that it will take “all necessary legal actions” to protect its interests and the interests of the shareholders.

“Repsol considers today’s announcement to be expressly illicit and gravely discriminatory, and that there has been no justification over how this decision will benefit the public use,” the company said in a written statement to the Spanish stock exchange.

Repsol also said the measure “blatantly fails to comply with Argentina’s obligations in the privatization process of YPF.”