The seizure of YPF by Argentina can be expected to have a positive repercussion for Uruguay since the country has an enviable legal system and keeps to the rules of the game, said the new Spanish ambassador in Montevideo, Roberto Varela.
By Dean Steinbeck (*) As much as it defies common sense, Uruguay entered into a tax sharing agreement that will scare off Argentine investors; the same group of people who are Uruguay’s biggest source of capital, investment, and innovation.
Uruguay’s ambition to have 1.2GW of wind power in operation by 2015 may have to be delayed for several years because logistical problems and tightening returns could make some projects unfeasible.
The recent tax-info exchange agreement reached between Argentina and Uruguay will make many investors in the Uruguayan financial system take their deposits back to “safes” or “mattresses” in Argentina, warned several economists during a conference on the Argentine economy prospects and its influence on neighbouring Uruguay.
As “highly positive” was described the 2011/12 cruise season by Uruguay’s Deputy Tourism minister Lilian Kechichian during the ceremony in the port of Montevideo to receive the last vessel of the season.
Uruguay’s state-owned power company UTE, is spending over seven million dollars per day to contain the deficit originated in poor rainfall that threatens production from the country’s four main hydroelectric generating plants.
Uruguay called on Argentina to begin the price bidding process for the delayed dredging of a River Plate canal and revealed it was already monitoring the Uruguayan side of a joint commission responsible for deciding on the final contract and which has come under suspicion of corruption.
Argentina formally requested Uruguay to jointly audit the River Plate Administrative Commission, CARP for alleged corruption claims involving the maintenance of the Martin Garcia canal, and which emerged in the Uruguayan press.
HSBC reported the sale of its affiliates in Uruguay, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay to the Colombian group Gilinski, an operation involving 400 million dollars, of which 80 million for the Montevideo assets.
United States ambassador Julissa Reynoso said Uruguayan president Jose Mujica is welcome to the White House whenever he wishes, and revealed that Uruguay is in the short list of countries that soon could be exempted from requiring a visa to travel to the US.