Lead Articles: Clarin: “For the U.S., the settlement with the ICSID is “a positive signal”” Clarin: “Another ruling against the country is confirmed”

Clarin

For the U.S., the settlement with the ICSID is “a positive signal”

So said the commercial attache of the embassy in Buenos Aires, Kevin Sullivan, at the industrial meeting.

 

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

 

Since Vilma Martinez left, Kevin Sullivan, the charge d’affaires, is leading the embassy of the United States in Argentina. Yesterday he was one of the most beckoned people in the hallways of the Sofitel of Cardales, where the Industrial Conference of the UIA was held.

 

Sullivan didn’t wander around when praising “the positive signal that is the settlement of the lawsuits in the ICSID, which has a positive impact in the country’s business climate,” he said to a small group of reporters.

 

-Do you believe that these signals can help a favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of the bondholders, he was asked.

 

-The U.S. Supreme Court has its procedure.  But we are seeing signals that are read positively by U.S. companies that also have been based for a long time in Argentina.  Many of them are finishing a century in the country, as Ford just did.  

 

-With these indications, will the U.S. government stop voting against credits for Argentina on the boards of the World Bank and the IADB?

 

-We have a very important bilateral relationship with Argentina.  And there is cooperation on various fronts, from economic to technological to cultural.  These advances undoubtedly improve the perception and the possibilities of the country.  

 

-Will there be other agreements like the one Chevron signed with YPF?

 

-There are many interested companies.  There is great interest of the private sector of the United States in non-conventional oil and gas.

 

-While he didn’t mentioned the U.S., Capitanich referred to the barriers from your country on the entry of Argentine lemons…

 

-The trade relationship has improved a lot with Argentina, the balance is very favorable for Argentina.  We are working in all manners to improve that relationship even more.

 

Silvia Naishtat

 

 

Clarin

Another ruling against the country is confirmed

 

Wednesday, December 04, 2013

 

After having paid the rulings established by the ICSID and UNCITRAL (the arbitration tribunals of the World Bank and the UN) in favor of five foreign companies, the government now faces a new test: the first of those organizations confirmed that a panel of three judges ruled in the case that was filed by the French company Total against Argentina in 2004 for the breaking of a contract.  

 

A source said to Clarin that the ruling determines that Argentina must pay Total approximately US$300 million.  In the ICSID they said that for the moment there is no authorization to make the ruling public.