Axel Kicillof justified the illegal expropriation of YPF: 'I'm not a specialist in this'

The devastating ruling by U.S. Judge Loretta Preska against the Argentine State once again exposed the legal, institutional, and economic disaster left by Kirchnerism. The magistrate ordered on Monday that Argentina hand over 51% of YPF shares to the vulture fund Burford Capital—and separately, also to the Bainbridge fund—due to the irregular manner in which the nationalization of the oil company was carried out in 2012. The political and technical architect of that maneuver was then Minister of Economy Axel Kicillof, now governor of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Far from showing self-criticism, Kicillof himself held a press conference in a nationalist tone, describing the ruling as "an attack on Argentine sovereignty" and "a legal absurdity." However, he acknowledged: "I'm not a specialist in this, but the power to expropriate is above a company's bylaws." The statement revealed the level of improvisation with which an operation was carried out that now puts the State's finances at risk.

Kicillof tried to divert attention by blaming the United States and Milei: "Some still wonder why Milei travels so much to the country from which this ruling came... it's very obvious." On his X account, the governor even accused the president of being a "mole in the Casa Rosada" and concluded with a classic Kirchnerist slogan: "YPF is not for sale."

The background of this trial is even more scandalous: the "crony socialism" scheme that Kirchnerism designed to benefit the Petersen Group, owned by the Eskenazi family, close to the Kirchners since the 1990s. The story began in 2008, when Repsol transferred 14.9% of YPF shares to the Eskenazis, without them putting up their own money: they obtained loans of more than USD 2 billion, even from Repsol itself, with the political backing of Néstor Kirchner.

That "business among friends" grew: in 2011, Petersen Energía, based in Spain but controlled by the Eskenazis, bought an additional 10% of YPF. Just a year later, the government of the now-convicted Cristina Fernández de Kirchner decided to nationalize the company without following the procedures set out in YPF's bylaws for expropriations, which now serves as the basis for multimillion-dollar lawsuits from international funds such as Burford Capital, which bought Petersen's bankruptcy and is now litigating against the Argentine State.

The Eskenazis had no previous experience in the energy sector, but managed to position themselves as owners of the country's largest company based on political connections and opaque financial agreements. To pay the debt to Repsol, they used up to 90% of YPF's dividends, in an unusual agreement by any business standard.

Faced with the adverse ruling, Javier Milei's government took action: this Tuesday the president met with his Cabinet to outline the appeal strategy and minimize the damage caused by Kirchnerism. Meanwhile, from the Justicialist Party, Cristina Kirchner and other leaders issued a statement rejecting the "handover" of YPF and calling to "defend national sovereignty," without acknowledging that they were the ones who created this legal mess that could now cost USD 16 billion.

Kicillof insisted that "Milei says he's going to appeal the ruling, but he's siding with the vultures", ignoring that he was the one who disregarded YPF's bylaws, ignored legal warnings, and led the country to the brink of a historic judgment.