Lunches and dinners with high priced cards, contacts from economic teams or campaign managers asking for support are frequent for companies in election years. But in this 2023 there are some singularities such as the lack of definition of the governing party in terms of candidates, an economic plan that is prepared turnkey like the one made by Carlos Melconian and outsiders with chances like Javier Milei.
As for the opposition, both Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and Patricia Bullrich, who have different heads in their economic teams, have decided to unify the references under the names of Hernán Lacunza and Luciano Laspina respectively. In the case of Bullrich there is a proliferation of names from Javier Ortiz Batalla, Guillermo Mondino, Dante Sica, Pablo Guidotti to David Sekiguchi.
There is concern among bankers about Milei’s growth, which they associate with the deterioration of the economy and they wonder if Peronism will lose some of its all-time low of 32%, which would partially explain the rise in Libertarianism. They fear that if this trend continues, there will be more noise that could cause some shock to financial stability in a scenario where the peso is in a coma and with $20 billion down due to the historic drought “there are no bunnies or gimmicks reach,” according to a market leader looking at a backdrop of higher inflation and even tighter inventories.
In the energy sector, they ensure that the Néstor Kirchner gas pipeline will be ready on June 20 or July 9 and will save $500 million a month in gas imports. A piece of information: this summer, with the heat wave, gas was imported to power thermoelectric plants for 2 billion dollars. Naturally, the pipeline will be fully operational when the compression plants and the second part are completed and approximately 44 million cubic meters will be able to exit from Vaca Muerta.
Near the Santander bank, responsible for the sale of Edesur, has begun to transcend the names of some local actors. The strongest is that of the group led by Guillermo Reca, who with other partners owns the largest generator in the country, Central Puerto. Of course, joining Edesur implies having millions of dollars of investment for its networks and the decision to place energy transformers in high-density neighborhoods and new constructions like Caballito.
Last year the Chilean CCU, of the Luksic group, has reached a 50/50 agreement with the French Danone for the business of mineral waters, flavored waters and powdered juices with its brands Villavicencio, Villa del Sur, Levité, Ser and Brío. Together they created the company Aguas de Origen and are trying to reposition themselves in a business affected by the crisis, unlike other segments of the beverage industry such as beers. CCU holds 30% of the market and will double capacity at its Luján plant.
Tenaris, the subsidiary of Techint for seamless steel tubes, has completed the assembly of the first wind turbine at its new Gonzales Chaves wind farm. A monumental crane with a boom of 150 meters and a width of 12 meters intervened. And they ensure that the rest of the 23 wind turbines planned by the park will be built at a rate of one per week. Once operational, the Buena Ventura wind farm will supply 50% of the electricity needed by the Siderca plant in Campana. Wind turbines will not only have the mission of providing wind energy; They will also transmit various data to the control center in real time, such as wind speed and direction and the amount of electricity each aircraft generates.
In a speech for a select group of businessmen, Juan Llach, former Deputy Minister of the Economy and great representative, provided some figures in arguing that for Argentina to grow equitably, “a substantial improvement in federalism is essential”. He underlined that in terms of GDP the country has dropped today from 20th to 60th place, out of 155 countries only 9 are more closed than Argentina, including the US “Investments are insufficient with 16.5% of GDP, inflation very high and chronic, today fourth in the world, after Venezuela, Sudan and Zimbabwe. We are the most bi-monetary country among medium and large-sized ones. And we have a high and chronic fiscal deficit, with high public spending only lower than several developed countries , very low productivity, high and distorting tax burden (35.4%), close to 10 points higher than the Latin American average and a growing structure of poverty and inequality.
Last Tuesday Malba was held a new edition of the “Sustainable Nordics” business seminar, which brings together companies from the Nordic countries. Guests were the ambassadors of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, with the participation of German Plessen, Undersecretary for Macroeconomic Planning of the Ministry of Economy. The Ambassador of Finland, Nicola Lindertz, noted that “the Nordic countries are known for their leadership in renewable energy, sustainable mobility and circular economy initiatives”. Plessen, on the other hand, confessed: “In Argentina we are experiencing a very difficult moment. We had macroeconomic outstanding tasks upon which external shocks have fallen, including one having to do with the weather, such as the worst drought on record. These kinds of external shocks will continue to happen.”
Source: Clarin
