Economy

Argentina goes after Russian, Indian investments in energy sector

YPF's CEO held a meeting on Tuesday with his counterpart from the Indian state oil company over their interest in the Vaca Muerta oilfield.
LPO (Buenos Aires)

Argentina was left out of the investment map of central countries after the capital control and the default. The pandemic aggravated the situation. For this reason, the Government of Alberto Fernández and VP Cristina Kirchner turned their strategy around to attract the interest of companies from emerging countries with economic power such as China, India and Russia, which have been trying to establish a foothold in the country for several years.

Argentine companies are badly hit and at historically low prices as evidenced by the ARDs' valuations on Wall Street. Even so, foreign investment is severely restricted throughout the world and there are few sectors in which the country can show concrete opportunities for growth. The energy sector and the industrialization of agro-foods are two of them, as emphasized by Foreign Minister Felipe Solá. That is why the government emphasizes investment opportunities in these sectors to attract investors from emerging countries.

China is a clear target because in the current context it is one of the few emerging countries with companies with liquidity to spend abroad. Hence the interest in investments in transport, energy, infrastructure and also in the pork sector.

But it is not the only country with companies with interest in the region. For example, this Tuesday YPF CEO Sergio Affronti held a first working meeting with A. K. Gupta, the director of ONGC Videsh, the international subsidiary of India's national oil and gas company. The Indian company -which already has projects in the Southern Cone in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil- was curious about Vaca Muerta's potential.

Officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India also participated in the meeting organized by the Indian Ambassador in Argentina, Dinesh Bhatia, according to YPF.

Russia has also been interested in establishing a foothold in Argentina for several years now. Last week Vice President Kirchner received the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Feoktistov, in the Senate. The agenda of the meeting included several points, among them the interest of a Russian company in disembarking in the Argentinean electricity sector.

LPO learned that the person who took the position during the week regarding a potential Russian investment was the Secretary of Energy, Dario Martinez.