Argentina has formally asked US Judge Loretta Preska to suspend the ruling ordering it to hand over 51 percent of the shares in the state-owned oil company YPF to settle a debt of US$16.1 billion.
The request was filed on Tuesday afternoon with Judge Loretta Preska in New York while Argentina prepares its arguments for the appeal.
If the request for suspension is not granted, Argentina will appeal to a higher court. It argues that compliance with Preska's order would cause “irreparable harm” to the oil company, according to the text of the filing.
In the brief, Argentina argued that the case has “extraordinary circumstances” and is not a “simple commercial dispute between companies.”
“This dispute affects Argentina's sovereignty” because it concerns the country's “strategic assets,” the filing states.
It also makes clear that “the plaintiffs would not be harmed by a suspension that would only maintain the status quo pending review” of the appeal. It further explains that Argentina “cannot sell its shares in YPF without the intervention of Congress” for approval.
Milei’s government had vowed to appeal Preska’s initial ruling ordering Argentina to hand over more than half of the shares in state energy firm YPF – the latest blow to Buenos Aires in a decade-long international legal saga.
She said the nation must hand over 51 percent of YPF’s shares to partially settle a US$16.1-billion debt owed to two companies affected by the controversial nationalisation of the oil firm in 2012.
Milei promptly vowed to appeal, while blaming the main opposition Peronist movement for the court furore.
The case revolves around the 2012 renationalisation of YPF from the control of Spanish energy giant Repsol, a process carried out during former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s second term in office (2007–2011; 2011-2015).
Two minority shareholders, Petersen Energía and Eton Park Capital, filed suit in 2015 seeking damages for allegedly not receiving proper compensation in the takeover.
Judge Preska ruled in favour of the plaintiffs and, in September 2023, ordered Argentina to pay more than US$16 billion to the firms.
To partially satisfy the outstanding amount, she on Monday ordered Argentina to transfer “51 percent of YPF Class D shares” to an intermediary.
Argentina’s government has 14 days to transfer the shareholding package to a global custody account at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM), said Preska, after which ownership will be transferred to the judgment’s beneficiaries or their designees.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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