YPF has not been touched, but remains. What changes will there be in the law on privatized companies?

The changes and amendments that the government introduced in the omnibus law after the agreement with the friendly opposition include a special chapter related to privatization of public companies. In principle, the novelty is that there will be a kind of three standards of companies: those that will not be privatized, those that can be joint venture companies and those, the vast majority, that will be subject to the possibility of auction. The most notable case, which will not be touched, is that of YPF, an oil company over which the state will continue to control. In this context, those joint ventures could be ARSAT, Banco Nación and Nucleóelectrica Argentina (NASA).

In Chapter II of the original project presented in December last year – dealing with the privatization of state companies and companies in which the Argentine state has total or majority control – there was

41 companies “in glass” among which was Yacimientos Petrolophilos Fiscales SA (YPF).

For these companies, the executive branch will have the power to “dispose of the shareholding or capital of the State and/or its entities in any private company”. In this way, other important state companies continue without any type of restriction or limitation on the payroll and for their privatization, such as Aerolíneas Argentinas, AISA, Telm, Correo Argentino, TV Pública, Trenes Argentinos or Fabricación Militares.

possible “mixed”

At the same time, in the new amendments it was established that in case of National BankSpace Telecommunications and Satellite Company ARSAT and electric power generation company nuclear -which operates the Embalse and Atucha I and II nuclear power plants – the state only “partial privatization

Arrears maintain control over the company,

The document now states: “Companies and societies listed in Annex II may only be partially privatized, the national state must maintain a majority participation in the capital or in the making of corporate decisions.”

In detail, Article 9 of the Basic Regulation was also abolished and the current wording of Article 35 of Law No. 24,804 was expanded, in order to maintain the power of veto in certain decisions of Nucleóelectrica Argentina Sociedad Anónima.

Furthermore, Law No. 23,696 explicitly included the participation of the Bicameral Privatization Commission to monitor privatization-related processes that are competent to the executive with omnibus legislation.

And finally, Article 11 of the project was also abolished, and thus the State’s obligation to act with the right of veto for decisions closing the activity is retained.

which may be auctioned

With the exclusion of YPF, the list was composed of the following state companies: General Administration of Ports, Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., Agua y Sanemientos Argentinos S.A. (AYSA), Banco de Inversion y Comercio Exterior S.A. (BICE), Casa de Moneda SE, Public Contents SE (Canal Encuentro, Paca-Paca, DeportTV), Corredores Viales SA, Official Mail of the Argentine Republic SA, Construction of housing for the Argentine Navy SE, Dioxitec SA (medicinal supplies), Educ.ar SE, Empresa Argentina Air Navigation SE , Energía Argentina SA (Enarsa), Fábrica Argentina de Aviación “Brigadier San Martín” SA, Fabricación Militares SE, Ferrocarriles Argentino SE, Innovación Tecnológica Agropecuarias SA (INTEA), Intercargo SAU, Nación Bersatil SA, Radio de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral SA , Radio and Television Argentina SE (public TV and national radio), Radio and Television Service of the University of Cordoba SA, Tandonor, Telúm SE, Belgrano Cargas y Logística SA, Yacimientos Carboniferous Río Turbio, among others.