MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cristina Fernandez anticipates she will address ‘vulture funds’ issue at G20 summit

The Argentine president said ‘vulture funds take advantage of everyone”

After arriving in Russia for the two-day G20 summit, Argentine President Cristina Fernández stressed she will be addressing the “vulture funds issue” during the summit despite the US rejected to mention it in the final statement.

“Vulture funds take advantage of everyone, not only Argentina” she told reporters adding Argentina will discuss “employment creation, production and investment“ which are ”the elements which will save the global economy amid a context of crisis”.

“I was reading that in Greece the government has allowed the sale of food with expired dates and over a million government staff despite not having been paid for the last year, still go every day to work fearing the loss of jobs”, added the Argentine president.

“These are the things we should talk about and deal with the ‘vulture funds’ which take advantage of countries close to defaulting or indebted as us” insisted Cristina Fernandez. “This has happened to the Greeks and the Spaniards and the Portuguese and in Spain vulture funds also purchased junk sovereign bonds at rock bottom prices and will be asking for full face payment”.

The Argentine leader said Greece is going for its third debt restructuring with ‘shaves’ and yet has been unable to pay, “and to us who have agreed with 93% of bondholders and have been paying regularly since 2005, they want to beat us down”.

“The St Petersburg summit is very special since it takes place at a delicate and serious moment of world affairs, not only because of the economic crisis but also because of the complicated global institutional situation such is security in the Middle East”

The Argentine head of state is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping.

Secretary General to the presidency Oscar Parrilli also informed Cristina Fernández will be meeting Indian and Japanese leaders Manmohan Singh and Shinzo Abe respectively as well as South African head of state Jacob Zuma in the margins of the multilateral reunion.

With her Chinese counterpart, the Argentine leader will be signing three agreements that aim at strengthening bilateral ties in strategic areas such as economy and food.

Cristina Fernandez will also receive at a special meeting the new chief of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo.

According to government sources, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will be taking to the G20 table the official decision to reopen the debt swap (which already has half-approval and is supported by the opposition) –facing a 1.3 billion dollar legal dispute against US-based vulture funds-, calls to reform the international financial system, the fight against tax havens, and the creation of employment as a key element both to face and overcome the global crisis hitting the world since 2008.

Russia occupies this year the rotating chair of G20 and is hosting the St Petersburg summit at the St Constantine Palace. Putin said that the summit agenda will concentrate on uniting efforts to prop global economic growth and promote employment by creating jobs.