The concessionaire, in which the Spanish company has a stake, has already issued a statement in which it regrets the "negative impact on legal security and the rights of investors, due to the failure to recognize commitments duly assumed by the Republic through its highest authorities."
A National Court in Argentina, at the request of the Government of Javier Milei, has suspended the arbitration initiated by Abertis against the State of Argentina before the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce for disputes related to the continuity of the concession contract for its two highways in that country, valued at 750 million euros.
The concessionaire, in which the Spanish company has a stake, has already issued a statement in which it regrets the "negative impact on legal security and the rights of investors, due to the failure to recognize commitments duly assumed by the Republic through its highest authorities."
The origin of the problem lies in the agreements reached by Mauricio Macri's government in 2018 with the company to extend the contract until 2030, which the subsequent government of Alberto Fernández opposed, thus beginning the disputes.
With Milei's arrival to power, the concessionaire hoped to be able to reach an agreement even before the arbitration was resolved. However, far from this resolution, the infrastructure agency of his Government has requested precautionary measures against this arbitration, something that the judge has granted.
However, the concessionaire has announced that it will use all available resources "in order to preserve its legitimate rights", which it considers to be "seriously and arbitrarily affected".
The first of the roads is Acceso Norte (Ausol), which has a total length of 120 kilometres and is 31.59% controlled by Abertis (in which ACS and the Italian Mundys also have shares). Its concession ended on 31 December 2020.
The Western Access (GCO) has a total length of around 55 kilometres and its concession ended on 31 December 2018. The concessionaire is 42.87% controlled by Acesa, a company of the Abertis group.