Argentina claims ARS50M against Correo Argentino

In the latest blow to former postal service Correo Argentino SA, the Argentine government has called in guarantees totaling 50 million pesos ($1=ARS2.8625) against the company. The National Communications Commission has published an official resolution ordering Correo Argentino SA to pay the state ARS42.735 million within five days. It also ordered Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires SA (GALI.BA), Correo Argentino’s financial guarantor as well as a company shareholder, to pay ARS7.265 million within 15 days. The government rescinded Correo Argentino’s postal concession in November, faulting the company for missed payments and failure to meet other terms of the contract. The former operator, which is also going through local bankruptcy proceedings, has debts of ARS900 million, ARS450 million of which are owed to the state. The guarantees that the communications regulatory agency exercised Tuesday were to cover ARS51.6 million in missed royalty payments that the state is claiming. Argentine administrator Eduardo Di Cola, a former congressional deputy, is now manning the postal service and has said Correo Oficial Argentino – the service’s new name under state management – will be re-privatized in May as stated in the November decree that revoked Correo Argentino’s contract. He said earlier this month that there are several local and international buyers interested in the concession, though he would prefer a mixed system in which the government retains a partial stake. In February, a U.S.-based creditor with a $540,000 judgment against Argentina had briefly got a temporary embargo placed on two New York-based accounts listed under Correo Argentino SA. The creditor, Macrotecnic International Corp., had argued that the accounts were a state asset by virtue of the company’s debt to the government. The temporary restraining order was later dropped, and Di Cola has said these legal complications haven’t slowed down the process to get the postal service back into private ownership. Correo Argentino’s majority shareholder is Sideco Americana (SDA.YY), a consortium owned by local businessman Francisco Macri. Banco Galicia, the main banking asset of Argentine financial holding company Grupo Financiero Galicia (GGAL), has an 11.8 percent stake.