YPF trial: Javier Milei allowed the Treasury attorney to excuse himself from participating for "decorum"

President Javier Milei authorized the excuse of the Attorney General of the Treasury of the Nation, Santiago Castro Videla, in the trial for the expropriation of YPF , in which Argentina faces a sentence of US$ 16 billion in the United States . The decision was formalized through decree 122/2025, which accepts the official's request not to intervene in the case for reasons of "decorum and delicacy." Instead, the defense of the State will be in the hands of the deputy attorney general Juan Ignacio Stampalija .

Castro Videla's withdrawal from the process is due to his ties to the Bianchi, Galarce & Castro Videla firm, which collaborated with an American law firm that participated in the trial in New York. Burford Capital, the fund that sued Argentina, presented as witnesses the constitutionalist Alberto Bianchi , partner of the attorney, together with Alejandro Garro and Alfredo Rovira , who spoke about the Argentine judicial system and the role of YPF in the structure of the State.

The decree signed by Milei also exempts Castro Videla from intervening in another dispute in the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, in the case of the Western Concessionary Group against the National State.

Meanwhile, the YPF case could take an unexpected turn. Judge Loretta Preska asked the parties about the feasibility of reconsidering the ruling, following the filing of a complaint by the civil organization Republican Action for Argentina (RAFA). The Argentine government supported this request in a document presented late on Tuesday.

The request for review is based on a complaint of fraud before the US courts, which maintains that the "Argentinization" of YPF in 2008 was a covert maneuver between Cristina Kirchner and Enrique Eskenazi , then owner of the Petersen Group. According to this hypothesis, the purchase of 25% of the oil company's shares by Eskenazi would have had the backing of Kirchnerism, but in 2012, when the government of Cristina Fernández expropriated Repsol's shares, it left the businessman out of the compensation.

The Petersen Group subsequently sold its litigation rights to the Burford and Eton Park funds, which filed the claim in New York and obtained a favorable ruling.

Last Monday, Argentine attorney Fernando Irazu , head of RAFA, filed a “Rule 60 Motion,” a resource that allows for the annulment of a sentence when evidence emerges that was not available at the time of the trial. Against all odds, Judge Preska agreed to review the request and turned the documentation over to the parties for their opinions.

In its submission, the Argentine government said that Milei "takes all allegations of corruption very seriously and is committed to thoroughly investigating any credible allegations." Along those lines, it assured that "the Republic would fully support and cooperate with any investigation that the United States Government might undertake into the matters raised by RAFA."

However, the brief, filed by attorney Robert J. Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell, also argues that U.S. courts "are not the proper forum to resolve Plaintiffs' claims in this case."

Burford Capital, for its part, rejected RAFA's submission and dismissed the fraud complaint. It argued that the request lacks technical support and that, if it had been relevant, it should have been submitted before the ruling was handed down.

Judge Preska will take a few days to evaluate the arguments. According to analyst Sebastián Maril , a specialist in international litigation against Argentina, the judge could make a decision before the end of the week.

During his regular press conference, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni confirmed that the government will cooperate with any US investigation into the acquisition of YPF shares by the Petersen Group. However, he insisted that Argentina will continue to maintain that US courts should not be in charge of resolving the case.

"This government has had to take on the defense of the Argentine State based on facts in which none of its members have participated and at an extremely advanced stage of the proceedings," said Adorni.

He also stressed that Milei's administration will exhaust all legal avenues to prevent Argentina from having to pay US$16 billion. "The Argentine Republic will continue to exercise its right to self-defense and exhaust legal avenues for the well-being of all Argentines," he concluded.