Santiago Soldati (born February 11, 1943) is a prominent Argentine businessman.
Santiago Soldati (born February 11, 1943) is a prominent Argentine businessman.
Santiago Soldati was born to Francisco Soldati, a nephew of the founder of the Villa Lugano neighborhood of Buenos Aires, José Francisco Soldati, and the owner of the city's largest utility, the Italian-Argentine Electric Company. [1] His father bought controlling interest in Sociedad Comercial del Plata (SCP), a holding company with varied interests, primarily real estate, in 1965, and expanded the company into petroleum transport. [2] Raised in a family of Swiss descent (José Francisco had been born in Lugano), Soldati was educated in Switzerland. [3]
The family's growing prominence made them a target to left-wing extremism during the 1970s, however, and in April 1973, Santiago Soldati was kidnapped by the Montoneros, who released him after payment of a US$1.5 million ransom. His father ultimately lost his life in a November 1979 bombing carried out by the same group, in one of their last attacks. [4] He became President of SCP when his elder brother, Francisco, died in a polo accident in 1991. [2]
Soldati took control of SCP at a time when Argentine President Carlos Menem and Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo were advancing an ambitious privatizations policy. SCP became a minority shareholder in newly privatized television, telephone, natural gas, electricity, freight rail services, as well as the metro Buenos Aires water utility. These became Telefé, Telefónica de Argentina, Transportadora del Gas del Norte, Transener, Ferroexpreso Pampeano and Aguas Argentinas, respectively, during the early 1990s. [5] Soldati invested part of his diversified earnings into two tourist attractions: the Tren de la Costa railway, and the Parque de la Costa amusement park. The first he developed by securing a concession in 1993 to operate the formerly state-owned Ferrocarril Central Argentino route between the northern Buenos Aires suburbs of Olivos and Tigre, in disuse since 1961. Following the recovery of derelict rails and stations, and the purchase of new equipment, the 16 km (10 mi) "Coastal Train" was inaugurated in April 1995, helping revive the largely upscale area's real estate market. [6]
Soldati was elected President of the Argentine Business Council, for a two-year term, in 1997. As the largest shareholder in Aguas Argentinas (with 20 percent), SCP profited by Soldati's decision in 1998 to sell its stake to Paris-based Suez, which paid SCP US$150 million for its shares, or three times what Soldati's company had paid in 1993. [7] The sale of the profitable unit was partly motivated by growing debts at SCP, however, whose revenue forecast was dampened by the local effects during 1995-96 of the Mexican peso crisis. Its US$715 million debt was nearly double its book value, and in 1997, SCP divested itself of the natural gas processing concerns had under its Compañía General de Combustibles (CGC) unit for US$230 million, most of which had to be earmarked for debt retirement. [8]
Controlling CPC, the nation's second-largest construction company, Soldati shed a half ownership stake in the builder, as well as 100% of the Ban gas company, by 1998. SCP, however, defaulted on a US$25 million debt in April 1999, which effectively shut it out of the corporate bond market. The principal drain on the group's finances had reportedly been its US$400 million investment in the two, suburban Buenos Aires tourist attractions: the Tren and Parque de la Costa, which were operated at a loss, and whose startup debt became difficult to service. [9]
Negotiations with creditors followed, but a lawsuit filed against SCP by US-based Reef Exploration in 2000 over the sale of a subsidiary to Shell Petroleum led to Soldati's decision to file for SCP's bankruptcy in September of that year. [10] The sale of a number of energy related interests to Techint, the Argentine multinational registered in Luxembourg, could not rescue SCP from bankruptcy, and in 2004, Soldati divested it of 81% of its CGC unit, which was sold to local household chemicals maker TVB. [11]
That year, SCP's bankruptcy was approved in court, which granted it an 80% discharge of a debt which had grown to US$1.2 billion, by then. [12] The discharge allowed SCP to enter into a modest venture with Millicom, a Luxembourg-based mobile phone network provider, [13] which resulted in Latin America's first WiMax network. [14]
A personal friend of British businessman Peter Munk, Soldati lobbied in favor of Barrick Gold during 2009. [5] Barrick, the gold mining giant co-founded by Munk in 1983, had been exploring a potentially large deposit straddling the Argentina-Chile border along the Andes mountain range, and ultimately obtained approval to mine the Pascua Lama field from both jurisdictions. [15] SCP's legal problems continued, however, as the bankruptcy ruling had been appealed by a commercial court prosecutor in 2006, [16] and in October 2009, the Argentine Supreme Court struck down the earlier ruling, citing irregularities in the shareholders' meeting convened to approve the bankruptcy. [12]
Citing his having reached retirement age, Soldati stepped down as the President of SCP on December 31, 2009. [17] His wife, Eva Thesleff de Soldati, is the President of the Friends of the San Martín Theatre Foundation. [18]
Transport in Argentina is mainly based on a complex network of routes, crossed by relatively inexpensive long-distance buses and by cargo trucks. The country also has a number of national and international airports. The importance of the long-distance train is minor today, though in the past it was widely used and is now regaining momentum after the re-nationalisation of the country's commuter and freight networks. Fluvial transport is mostly used for cargo.
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province and the province's capital until it was federalized in 1880. Since then, in spite of bearing the same name, the province does not include Buenos Aires proper, though it does include all other parts of the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The capital of the province is the city of La Plata, founded in 1882.
Beccar is a town located 17 km (11 mi) north of the Buenos Aires metropolitan area in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is part of the partido of San Isidro in Gran Buenos Aires. It is situated close to the historic town of San Isidro and it is characterized by tree lined streets and plazas, red tiled roofed style chalets, high-rise apartment buildings that line the Avenida Centenario zone and by being close to the coast of Rio de la Plata river and yacht clubs. Nearby there is a large shanty town (Villa La Cava). Beccar is served by a 10-minute walk to scenic Tren de la Costa light rail line at Punta Chica station and the commuter railway at Beccar station with easy access to Buenos Aires city centre and the weekend retreat of the Village of Tigre.
The Unidad Ejecutora del Plan Ferroviario Provincial (UEPFP), mostly known for its trade name Ferrobaires, was a public railway company which operated extensive long-distance passenger trains throughout Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. The company was primarily owned and funded by the Buenos Aires provincial government led by Eduardo Duhalde. The name "Ferrobaires" is a combination of the Spanish words for "Rail Buenos Aires."
Tren de la Costa is a suburban 15.5 km (9.6 mi), 11-station light rail line in Greater Buenos Aires, between Maipú Avenue station in the northern suburb of Olivos and Delta station in Tigre, on the Río de la Plata. The line connects with the Mitre line at Maipú station, via a footbridge across Avenida Maipú, for direct access to Retiro terminus in central Buenos Aires.
The Buenos Aires–Rosario–Córdoba high-speed railway was a project designed to link the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba through a 710 km (440 mi) high-speed rail network. The plan, announced by then-President Néstor Kirchner during a press conference at the Casa Rosada on 26 April 2006, would be the first in Argentina operating at up to 320 km/h (200 mph). The entire project was dismissed due to the financial crisis of 2007–08.
The Parque de la Ciudad is a former amusement park in the Villa Soldati neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The General Bartolomé Mitre Railway (FCGBM), named after the former Argentine president Bartolomé Mitre, is one of the six state-owned Argentine railway lines formed after President Juan Perón's nationalisation of the railway network in 1948 and one of the largest of Argentina. The six divisions, managed by Ferrocarriles Argentinos were later broken up during the process of railway privatisation beginning in 1991 during Carlos Menem's presidency.
Villa Soldati is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the South-West of the city. It has a population of approximately 41,000 people, 40% of which live in Barrio Soldati, a public housing development built between 1973 and 1979.
Villa Lugano is a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the south of the city. It has a population of approximately 114,000 people.
Ferroexpreso Pampeano S.A. is an Argentine private railway company that operates freight services over a 5,094 km (3,165 mi) 5 ft 6 in network that comprises broad gauge Sarmiento Railway and the Rosario and Puerto Belgrano section of Roca Railway.
The Argentine railway network consisted of a 47,000 km (29,204 mi) network at the end of the Second World War and was, in its time, one of the most extensive and prosperous in the world. However, with the increase in highway construction, there followed a sharp decline in railway profitability, leading to the break-up in 1993 of Ferrocarriles Argentinos (FA), the state railroad corporation. During the period following privatisation, private and provincial railway companies were created and resurrected some of the major passenger routes that FA once operated.
Sociedad Comercial del Plata is a diversified Argentine holding company, with interests primarily in the energy, rail transport, real estate, and tourism sectors.
David Graiver was an Argentine businessman and banker who was investigated in the 1970s for alleged money laundering of US$17 million for the Montoneros, a leftist guerrilla group. He was indicted for embezzlement after his reported death by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who had thought he might have faked his death, because of the September 15, 1976 failure of American Bank & Trust. This was the fourth-largest bank failure in United States history at the time, and Graiver's banks in Argentina and elsewhere also failed. A New York court declared Graiver officially dead on January 15, 1979, clearing the way for resolution of some outstanding financial issues.
Banco Santander Argentina is a commercial bank and financial services company and affiliate of the Santander, Cantabria (Spain) based Santander Group. Based in Buenos Aires, its banking operations are the third largest in Argentina, as well as the largest among all privately owned banks in the country.
Parque de la Costa is an amusement park located in Tigre, a northern suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Mar del Plata Rugby Union, abbreviated URMDP, is the organisational body that rules the game of rugby union in Mar del Plata town and cities of the south of Buenos Aires Province. The stadium of Villa Marista is used for rugby matches played by the Union representative side.
Operadora Ferroviaria Sociedad del Estado is an Argentine state-owned company created in 2008 to operate passenger services in Argentina. It is a subsidiary of the Ferrocarriles Argentinos holding company.
The University train of La Plata is a commuter rail service part of Roca Line, currently being operated by State-owned company Trenes Argentinos. Trains run within La Plata city of Buenos Aires Province in Argentina.
Argentine Water and Sanitation is a state-owned company of Argentina dedicated to supplying the public with running water and sewer services. Created in 2006 after the Government of Argentina rescinded the contract with "Aguas Argentinas", a corporate group that had granted concession during the Carlos Menem's administration in the 1990s. This way, 90% of the company remained under the control of the Ministry of the Interior, Public Works and Housing, later falling into the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Works when it was reformed back into its own ministerial portfolio.