Additionally, the amount imposed by Preska—about 16 billion dollars—is highly questionable. Executive officials explain that this calculation is not consolidated, and that it will be one of the central points of the appeal. Among other things, the date of share valuation, the exchange rate, and the calculation formula established in YPF's bylaws, which was expressed in Argentine pesos, will be discussed. In fact, the way Preska artificially dollarized the compensation is considered a key legal weakness for achieving a substantial reduction. According to official sources, the real amount could drop to "a few hundred million dollars", that is, less than 5% of the current value of the ruling.
In line with presidential firmness, the Government categorically rules out any type of negotiation with Burford Capital until there is a final ruling. In the words of officials, "it would be irreparable damage" to hand over control of YPF's shares. The intention of the administration is clear: to gain legal time without violating rulings or surrendering sovereignty. Even if Preska doesn't grant the suspension, the "stay" will be requested from the court, which would allow delaying execution until the judicial process is exhausted.
The worst-case scenario, they admit, would be if no higher court agrees to suspend the ruling. In that case, the order to transfer shares could be activated in the middle of the month. However, in practical terms, the transfer is unfeasible, since those shares are not easily enforceable, and if a reversal were achieved in the Supreme Court, it would be almost impossible for the State to recover the capital delivered.
Axel Kicillof, gobernador bonaerense.
The architect of this legal catastrophe is indisputable: Axel Kicillof, then Minister of Economy under Cristina Kirchner and current governor of Buenos Aires province. The same person who today, instead of apologizing, accuses President Milei of being a "mole" and denounces an "intolerable interference in sovereignty."
Meanwhile, while attempting to challenge the ruling from a nationalist position, he defends the expropriation of YPF without having respected the basic rules of corporate law. "I'm not a specialist in this, but the power to expropriate is above a company's bylaws", he said with astonishing lightness at a press conference. That disregard for legality, typical of kirchnerismo, is what now puts Argentina at risk of international financial consequences.
The national government, led by Javier Milei, has formally requested the suspension of the scandalous ruling by U.S. Judge Loretta Preska, which orders the transfer of 51% of YPF shares to the vulture fund Burford Capital. Unlike the complicit silence or ideological defense of the kirchneristadisaster, the current administration is acting with legal rationality and institutional sovereignty.
"The Government has requested the suspension of Judge Preska's ruling and is working on the appeal. The ruling is legally unenforceable: it contradicts Law 26.741, which requires authorization from Congress by a qualified majority and disregards sovereign immunity. The shares are not in the possession of the State nor are they legally transferable. End.", explained presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni through his official account on X.
Manuel Adorni en X:
The Office of the Treasury Attorney filed a "stay" request this Tuesday, a figure in U.S. law that seeks to temporarily freeze the execution of the ruling while the appeal is processed.
In the coming days, the formal appeal before the Court of Appeals, the second level of the U.S. judicial system, will also be filed, and if necessary, a direct appeal will be made to the Supreme Court. "Complying with an impossible-to-fulfill ruling is not among the options", officials at Casa Rosada summarize.
Milei's administration rightly keeps that Preska's ruling contains serious inconsistencies. First, because it orders the transfer of shares that are neither legally nor operationally in the possession of the national State, which constitutes a clear judicial overreach. Second, because the ruling is based on a distorted interpretation of YPF's bylaws, by requiring that the purchase offer made to Repsol in 2012 be extended to the rest of the shareholders, such as Grupo Petersen—"occasional" partners of kirchnerismo, introduced without bidding or real capital.
