Sao Paulo
A businessman who controls the country's largest airports, a former president who knew him since childhood, and an economist who would become famous for his histrionics on television.
The unlikely mix united the fates of the new Argentine President Javier Milei, sworn in this Sunday (10), the infrastructure billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian and the former President Mauricio Macri.
Eurnekian, 91, is the founder of the Corporación America conglomerate and is one of Argentina's richest people, with an estimated fortune of $1.9 billion (R$9.4 billion), according to Forbes.
The businessman of Armenian origins came from the textile industry and built his fortune through payTV channels and managing airport terminals in various countries.
Only the group's airport management arm, Corporación América Airports, had revenues of more than $1.2 billion (R$5.9 billion) last year and is linked to two terminals in Brazil.
In 2011, the Inframérica consortium, which included Engevix and took part in the country's first concession auction, won the dispute over the construction, maintenance and operation of São Gonçalo do Amarante Airport (in Greater Natal).
At the beginning of 2012, it still held a 51% stake in the concession for the operation, renovation and expansion of Brasília Airport for 25 years.
The construction company Engevix, investigated by the Lava Jato operation, sold its shares in the airports to Corporación América in 2015. Inframérica later demanded the return of Natal Airport, which was rebooked to Zurich Internacional Airport in 2023 and should now only be left via the federal capital's terminal.
Since 2018, Corporación América's airport division has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange and includes 53 terminals in six countries, which handled 65.6 million passengers in 2022.
The conglomerate operates in the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, mining, technology, real estate, banking and wine sectors. The company also has investments in Uruguay, Ecuador, Italy and Armenia.
Javier Milei worked in various companies in the group from 2009 to 2021. He was one of the people responsible for analyzing new investments and left the company to run for the position of national deputy.
According to journalist Juan Luis González's unauthorized biography “El Loco,” there is much of Eurnekian's world in the future president's political circle.
According to the author, Milei from the Corporación América years was someone who never talked about politics or claimed the country's last military dictatorship contrary to what he did in a debate before the first round of voting.
On this occasion, the ultraliberal referred to his deputy Victoria Villaruel when he said that there were excesses on both sides in the resistance to the military regime and denied that the number of missing people in the country was 30,000 people (as stated by). organizations related to human rights).
The book recounts a tense meeting between Eurnekian and Macri, months before the 2015 elections. While still a child, the future president met the businessman, who was friends with his father Franco.
On the eve of the Casa Rosada takeover, he reportedly urged the executive branch to abandon investments in China and Russia and focus on countries closer to the influence of the United States the ideological focus of the new administration.
“There was an elephant in the room, namely the fear that the future government would accept the concession of Ezeiza Airport (in Greater Buenos Aires) and Aeroparque (in the capital). To this day, Eurnekian is convinced that if the government failed to wrest control of these terminals from him simply because he could not find a loophole in the law,” the journalist writes.
Corporación América's communications director, Carolina Barros, refutes the statements in the chapter of the book that deals with Eurnekian's relationship with Macri and Milei.
“It is the speculation and imagination of the author, who has never consulted the company’s communications department, Mr. Eurnekian, or me, his spokesman.”
“Interestingly, the author is a journalist at Perfil, a media company with which we have an excellent relationship and open doors,” the spokesperson continues.
“Eurnekian is pushing Milei into the media in his open war against the Macri government. It's impossible not to connect the two things. Both Macri and he are experienced men of power,” says González Sheet.
The libertarian became known for his catchphrases and discussions with other guests on television debate shows. And also for the criticism of Mauricio Macri and his then chief of staff Marcos Peña.
“Macri is a criminal and a fraudster, he wants to steal the flags of freedom,” Milei shouted on Argentine broadcaster A24. “When he talks about reforming the state, the labor system and economic opening, [não diz que] appointed a socialist chief of staff.”
“One thing is what he says and another is what he does when he is in power. I still haven’t managed to understand who the real Macri is.” […] “To be part of an alliance that is doomed to fail, I prefer to keep my distance,” the then MP told the Todo Notícias broadcaster in 2022.
During the 2023 election campaign, Eurnekian gave an interview to the Financial Times newspaper in which he stated that he trusted Milei, but made an important caveat: “I think he would be a great president, but I don't want the dollar,” he said.
The businessman classified dollarization, one of the candidate's main slogans during the campaign, as a “simplification” of the country's problems. “It seems ridiculous to introduce the dollar just because we were unable to manage our currency.”
Political chess would mean Milei would find a key ally in Macri to achieve the presidency by defeating Economy Minister Sergio Massa in the second round.
After his election, he confirmed two former Macri ministers in key positions in his future government: the defeated candidate Patricia Bullrich will again be security minister and Luis Caputo will take command of the economy.
The new government will have to count on other figures who have Corporación América on their CV, such as Nicolás Posse (Head of Cabinet), Mariano Cúneo Libarona (Justice) and Guillermo Francos (Ministry of Interior).
For González, this is more due to Milei's lack of options than the company's influence.
“A great feature of Milei's life is loneliness, and he has no people who could fill all the functions of the state. It does not suit Eurnekian to have a government that puts an end to public works when the company has so many contracts with the state or remain associated with a president who could end badly.”
With Milei's victory, dollarization disappeared from his speeches, and there is already a belief among Argentine businessmen that Caputo's move to the ministry will force him to abandon the idea. Political analysts are now trying to assess what weight Macri will have over the next four years and whether the alliance between them will last.
XRAY | AMERICA AIRPORTS CORPORATION
Net sales (2022): $1.2 billion
Ebitda (adjusted): $457 million
Passenger traffic: 65.6 million (in 53 terminals)
Number of employees: 6,114
PMain competitors: Aena, Fraport, Vinci and Zurich