The Board of Directors of the oil company YPF finally approved in the Assembly held this Friday the 26th a salary increase (“fees, remunerations and remunerations for all concepts”) close to 40% above inflation for its members. The proposal was accepted by 98.6% of the votes, including that of the chief and vice chief of staff, Nicolas Posse y Jose Rolandi respectively.
The directors of YPF are appointed and represent the interests of the shareholders, who together are the State (51%) and private shareholders (remaining 49%).
Despite this share structure, the company operates as a private Limited Company (SA); unlike other companies in which the national State is a participant, At YPF it does not contribute money. The oil company obtains 80% of its income from the sale of fuel and, if it has losses, it disposes of its own reserves.
Last year YPF recorded a negative accounting result of 1,277 million dollars, mainly caused by the revaluation of its conventional gas and oil fields that will be put up for sale for about US$ 1.8 billion. On the other hand, its business operating result (adjusted EBITDA) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was positive $4,058 million.
Months ago, YPF had hired an international “compensation and benefits” consulting firm that determined that compensation paid to directors was below marketso, in the opinion of these specialists, this increase would be necessary to equal the current conditions of the directors of other comparable companies.
The energy industry is one of the least affected by the deep income crisis for workers in Argentina. The oil unions recently closed a parity of 287% year-on-year, which equals inflation accumulated in the last 12 months.
The General Assembly of the company approved this Friday by an absolute majority of computable votes the payment of fees on account to the directors and members of the Supervisory Commission for the fiscal year 2024 for up to $ 10,189,823,464 ($10,189.8 million).
It’s about a increase in nominal terms of 388.11% compared to the $2,087,597,061 ($2,087.5 million) received “in remuneration, fees and remuneration” by the Board of Directors during the year ended December 31, 2023, values that its members consider as “adequate and reasonable.”
The average inflation expected by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Argentina is 249.8%, so the increase, discounting this effect, reaches 39.5% annually.. In 2024, however, the Board of Directors will have two more members than last year.
The national deputy Itai Hagman (from Unión por la Patria) had denounced at the time on his X account that YPF directors will earn $840,000 per year (US$72,000 or $70 million per month).
Industry sources assure that this figure is not strictly precise, since it would be an average of salaries and does not correctly reflect the differences between each of them. The CEO will earn above average and the rest, below.
The president of the Board of Directors of YPF and also CEO of the oil company is Horacio Marinformer executive of Tecpetrol, one of the companies in holding Techint by Paolo Rocca.
The rest of the members of the board of directors as “heads” who were made official on Friday are the Chief of Staff, Nicolás Posse; his vice boss, José Rolandi; Carlos Bastos (the brain of privatizations in the 1990s, today also acting in the reform of the energy sector); Mario Eduardo Vázquez; Eduardo Alberto Ottino, Omar Gutiérrez, former governor of Neuquén; Emiliano José Mongilardi, Horacio Oscar Forchiassin, the former deputy and current Minister of Energy of Mendoza, Jimena Hebe Latorre; José Guillermo Terraf, and Gerardo Damián Canseco.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Guillermo Francos; Santiago Martínez Tanoira, Executive Vice President of Gas and Energy; Silvia Noemí Ayala, Mauricio Alejandro Martin, vice president of Downstream (refining and marketing of fuels), María Martina Azcurra, Guillermo Gustavo Koenig, Carla Antonela Matarese, Hugo Eduardo Rodríguez, deputy Pamela Fernanda Verasay, María Araceli Guzmán and Julio Alejandro Schiantarelli.