From the national government, two ministers celebrated the agreement reached by YPF in the so-called “Maxus case”. The agreement reached determined that all actions filed against YPF and against Repsol (ex-owner of the company) will be dismissed, while granting a release and total acquittal of the claims that the Maxus Liquidation Trust presented at the time for up to US$ 14,000 million.
“YPF’s great achievement, a success for Pablo González, a great victory for our country”, was the celebratory phrase chosen by the Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, who published on the social network Twitter. Massa also valued the work of the president of the Argentine oil company: “Congratulations!” He encouraged him.
The agreement, announced last night by YPF, determines that the Maxus Liquidation Trust will drop the claims it filed against the Argentine oil company and Repsol in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, as well as all current and future claims they may have. against both companies. In exchange for this, YPF and Repsol agreed to pay the Trust an amount of US$287.5 million each, making a total of US$575 million. The amount to be paid by YPF is equivalent to only 2% of the original amount of the claim. The deal is now subject to judicial approval and other conditions that must be met over the next few months, YPF said in a statement.
From another corner of the Casa Rosada, the Minister of the Interior, Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, also mentioned the judicial agreement of the oil company. The official made a brief political reading of the perspectives ratified by the understanding: “it is great news for all Argentines because it strengthens the path of energy sovereignty started in 2012 with the recovery of the company,” wrote the minister who is a reference of the La Cámpora group in the national cabinet.
In the case of De Pedro, the nationalization of the company is also alluded to, an episode that was questioned again last week when bad news for the country came from a court in New York: After more than seven years of a complex process court, Judge Loretta Preska, head of the court for the Southern District of Manhattan, ruled against Argentina, in a dispute over the expropriation of YPF.
Judge Preska established that YPF is not responsible, but Argentina is, although it remains to establish the amount of compensation required by the Bruford fund, which bought the right to litigate against YPF and the Argentine State from two former private shareholders of the oil. The plaintiffs argued that the oil company should have made a public offer to the minority shareholders in a timely manner and not only arrange compensation with the majority shareholder at the time of the expropriation, the Spanish company Repsol. The decision will be appealed by the Argentine State, while YPF was left out of the claim, whose amounts, say the plaintiffs, range from 8 billion dollars to 21 billion dollars.