Discouraging week for the Kirchner family and followers, despite the fact that he name of their main political enemy, Mauricio Macri, has cropped up in the Panama Papers. Not only Lazaro Baez, the dominant public works contractor in Santa Cruz province, and believed to be a straw man for the Kirchner family has been arrested and faces questioning on a money laundering investigation, but also former Transport Secretary Ricardo Jaime implicated the Kirchner couple and a former minister in a multimillion purchase of damaged railway materials.
Argentina signed two nuclear power plant construction deals with China on Sunday worth around US$15 billion, which would add 1,750 megawatts to the energy already produced by the country's three nuclear power plants.
Argentine president Cristina Fernandez is leaving this week for an official visit to Russia and controversy over the agreements to be signed has erupted following the publication of a letter in a Sunday newspaper signed by a group of former Energy secretaries who claim the accords compromise Argentina with a foreign country in the execution of highly costly works, like it was done with China”.
The construction of the Nestor Kirchner and Jorge Cepernic dams in Santa Cruz, Patagonia is finally set to begin now that China has deposited the first 287.7 million dollars tranche of funding for the massive 4.71 billion project, Argentine President Cristina Fernández announced before leaving for a state visit to China.
The current legal dispute between Argentina and holdouts (“vulture funds”) suing the country over its defaulted bonds “will not affect” planned Chinese investments, since Argentina and China have a 'strategic association', the head of the National Commission of Development and Reform (CNDR) of China Xu Shaoshi, warned on Wednesday.
Credit strapped Argentina is wooing Beijing and with this purpose Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, Planning Minister Julio De Vido and YPF oil company CEO Miguel Galuccio are currently on an official trip to China, aimed at gathering funding for public works including two dams and one nuclear power plant.
President Cristina Fernandez confirmed Russia’s interest in investing in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale formation in Patagonia and announced that a Russian delegation will travel soon to the area, which holds one of the largest shale gas and oil reserves of the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Saturday a nuclear energy cooperation deal with Argentina on the third stop (Cuba, Nicaragua) of a tour to bolster trade ties and strengthen Russia’s influence in Latin America.
Argentina's government said Wednesday that in five weeks it will restart operations at an enriched uranium plant as part of a peaceful pursuit of nuclear energy.
Argentina's Planning minister Julio De Vido guaranteed publicly on Monday that there will be no gas cuts next winter (21 June), while Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron described the situation as the best in the last four years.