Enrique Eskenazi

Enrique Eskenazi
Born
Enrique Eskenazi Ojalvo

(1925-08-04)4 August 1925
Santa Fe, Argentina
Died27 January 2025(2025-01-27) (aged 99)
Santa Fe, Argentina
EducationNational University of the Littoral
OccupationsChemical engineer, businessman
Known forPresident of Grupo Petersen; vice-chairman of YPF

Enrique Eskenazi Ojalvo (4 August 1925 – 27 January 2025) was an Argentine chemical engineer and businessman. He was president of Grupo Petersen, a diversified Argentine business group, and later served as vice-chairman and director of YPF after the group acquired a stake in the oil company from Repsol.

Early life and education

Eskenazi was born in Santa Fe. He graduated with a degree in chemical engineering from the National University of the Littoral.[1][2]

Career

Eskenazi began his business career at Bunge & Born. In the early 1980s he became general manager of the construction company Petersen, Thiele y Cruz S.A., and later took control of the firm.[3][2]

During the 1990s he led the company's diversification into infrastructure, urban services, agribusiness, energy and finance, helping to build what became known as Grupo Petersen.[3][4] By 2010 he was listed as president of Banco de San Juan S.A., Banco de Santa Cruz S.A., Nuevo Banco de Santa Fe S.A., Nuevo Banco de Entre Ríos S.A., Petersen, Thiele y Cruz S.A., and several related companies and foundations.[1] Contemporary profiles described the group as controlling four provincial banks and a network of 215 branches across Patagonia, Cuyo, Córdoba Province, Santa Fe Province and Entre Ríos Province.[4]

In addition to his business activity, Eskenazi held posts in the Unión Argentina de la Construcción, the Asociación de Bancos Públicos y Privados de la República Argentina (ABAPPRA), and the Asociación de Bancos Privados de Capital Argentino (ADEBA).[3]

In November 2006, Eskenazi joined Hugo Sigman and Eduardo Eurnekian in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to invest in SanCor.[5]

In 2008, after Repsol sold 14.9 percent of YPF to the Petersen group, Eskenazi became vice-chairman and director of YPF.[6][1] In 2011, Petersen exercised an option to increase its holding to about 25 percent.[7] After the Argentine state expropriated a controlling stake in YPF in 2012, Petersen was unable to continue servicing the debt it had used to finance its shareholding, which had depended on YPF dividend payments.[8]

In 2000, former prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo filed an anti-corruption complaint alleging that officials in the government of Fernando de la Rúa had sought to influence a judicial case involving Banco Galicia and the Petersen group; the government denied the allegation.[9][10]

Cultural and philanthropic activities

Eskenazi oversaw the creation of the Grupo Petersen foundations, non-profit organizations linked to the group's regional banks and devoted principally to education and culture.[11]

He also chaired the Asociación Civil Cultural Centro Histórico Teatro Colón, from which he supported the development of Plaza del Vaticano in Buenos Aires and public cultural activities associated with the Teatro Colón.[3]

According to a 2009 interview in Página/12, he also supported the restoration of the rose garden (Rosedal) in Parque Tres de Febrero.[12]

Death

Eskenazi died at his home in Santa Fe on 27 January 2025, aged 99.[13][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Form 20-F". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. YPF S.A. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  2. ^ a b "A los 99 años murió Enrique Eskenazi, director del Grupo Petersen y ex vicepresidente de YPF". elDiarioAR (in Spanish). 27 January 2025. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Murió Enrique Eskenazi, fundador y presidente del Grupo Petersen". Infobae (in Spanish). 27 January 2025. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b "Un poderoso empresario que cultiva el bajo perfil". Infobae (in Spanish). 21 December 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  5. ^ "Santa Fe "prefiere" a SanCor en manos nacionales". Infobae (in Spanish). 28 November 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  6. ^ "Argentina's Grupo Petersen launches YPF bid". Reuters. 21 May 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  7. ^ "Grupo Petersen exercises 10 pct call option on YPF". Reuters. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  8. ^ "Petersen Group to miss YPF debt payment -source". Reuters. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Grave denuncia contra Santibañes y Gil Lavedra". El Día (in Spanish). 12 July 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  10. ^ "El Gobierno niega una denuncia sobre presiones a la Justicia". El Día (in Spanish). 13 July 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  11. ^ "Nuestras fundaciones". Grupo Petersen (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  12. ^ "El medio ambiente que queremos conservar para futuras generaciones". Página/12 (in Spanish). 9 November 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Falleció el ingeniero Enrique Eskenazi, presidente del Grupo Petersen". El Litoral (in Spanish). 27 January 2025. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  • Media related to Enrique Eskenazi at Wikimedia Commons
  • Grupo Petersen (in Spanish)
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