YPF: Spain says Argentina's decision is 'discriminatory, arbitrary'

The Spanish government condemned Argentina’s announcement over the expropriation of YPF, calling it a “discriminatory” and “arbitrary” decision, and stated that it will adopt any measures deemed necessary to defend the interests of Repsol and every other Spanish company.

Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo held a press conference along with Industry Miniser José Manuel Soria, in which they reported the Executive branch’s decision in the matter and affirmed that Argentina has “broken” the traditional bilateral relation between both countries.

Soria assured that the Argentine government "has not fulfilled the agreement reached on February 28 with Planning Minister Julio De Vido and Economy Minister Hernán Lorenzino" which stated that “any differences regarding YPF had to be resolved in a friendly way by both governments.”

Both ministers stated that the Spanish government will act in consequence with this decision and added that “starting this afternoon, we’ll be working on which measures to adopt, and we will announce them within the next few days.”

García-Margallo affirmed during the press conference that the expropriation is “an aggressive measure to the Argentine people” and confirmed that it is a “dreadful decision for Spain, a dreadful decision for Argentina and a terrible decision for legal security.”

The ministers also insisted on repeating President Mariano Rajoy’s statements given earlier on Monday, when he guaranteed that “wherever there’s a Spanish company, the government will be there, defending its interests.”