Argentina
La Pampa Asked the Courts to Halt the New Distribution of Los Nihuiles Royalties
The province filed an injunction against the national government after the decree assigning Mendoza the full amount of those funds. The Pampean government argues that the measure disregards a 1992 agreement upheld by the Supreme Court.
La Pampa filed an injunction before the Federal Court against the national government in an attempt to suspend the effects of Decree 982/2026, under which Javier Milei’s government changed the distribution of the hydroelectric royalties from the Los Nihuiles system and ordered that Mendoza receive 100% of those funds, according to Todo Noticias.
The action was promoted by Governor Sergio Ziliotto and targets articles 3 and 4 of that regulation, signed by Milei and Economy Minister Luis Caputo. According to the filing, the province seeks to keep the previous scheme in force on an interim basis until the underlying dispute is resolved.
According to Todo Noticias, the decree set aside the criterion applied since 1973, which distributed those royalties equally between Mendoza and La Pampa. The national government justified the change by arguing that the hydroelectric source being used is located entirely within Mendoza’s territory.
Ziliotto said the Pampean position is based on judicial precedents and prior agreements between the parties. Among his arguments, he stated that there is an interjurisdictional agreement signed in 1992 by the national government, Mendoza and La Pampa, approved by the provincial legislatures and later upheld by the Supreme Court. According to the governor, that understanding cannot be set aside by decree.
Todo Noticias noted that the national decree cites that same 1992 agreement, but with a different interpretation. The official text maintains that the agreement provided for the payment of royalties to La Pampa, although it left open the possibility of future changes based on legal rules or court rulings.
The Pampean administration also questioned the fact that the change was ordered while another case linked to this distribution is pending before the Supreme Court. According to the provincial government, it was the national government itself that asked for La Pampa to be added to that case, initiated by Mendoza against the national government, and the Court accepted that participation on August 27.
According to Todo Noticias, the injunction also seeks to prevent the new criterion from becoming entrenched ahead of future concessions for the hydroelectric system. The national government said it needed to establish a distribution rule to provide legal certainty to the process of selecting new operators.
The decision also reignited the political dispute between the two provinces. While Alfredo Cornejo celebrated Mendoza’s move to collect the full amount of the royalties, Ziliotto reaffirmed his claim against the measure.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with assistance from artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not do any original reporting on this event.
