On August 23, 2024, the Regime of Incentives for Large Investments (RIGI) was approved. One year after its implementation, the results are far from the initial promises: the announced “avalanche of capital” has not yet arrived, while the regime already consolidates extraordinary benefits for a handful of large investors.
From the RIGI Observatory, made up of social organizations, research institutes, and academics, we monitor the projects that formally join the regime, gathering information on the companies involved, the amounts committed, the economic sectors, their location, and projected employment.
In this sense, we have analyzed the flow of investments with the aim of assessing their real scope, and we warn that, so far, it has been limited in a context marked by both national and international uncertainties. Nineteen applications to join the RIGI have been submitted, of which 7 were approved and 1 rejected, representing a total investment of 13.067 billion dollars. However, these investments foresee only just over one thousand direct jobs—a minimal figure compared to the extraordinary tax and foreign exchange benefits granted by the regime.
In addition, from the Observatory we have mapped territorial resistance, following local expressions of opposition, their discourses, collective actions, and demands. A third line of our work focuses on identifying the social and environmental risks and impacts associated with the projects promoted by this regime. Finally, we analyze the impact of the RIGI on tax revenue, fiscal policy, and capital flows. Based on all this analysis, on this first anniversary we publish our Bulletin No. 1 (Spanish version available below)
In the search for a way out of the looming external crisis, the government is betting on investments and hydrocarbon exports, deepening the export-oriented model. It pays no attention to the potential environmental, labor, or social damages that may result, nor to the institutional concessions it may have to make.
The RIGI is the clearest expression of this course. Approved under the pretext of promoting investments—as was once the case with the foreign investment law or the mining code—it consolidates an extractivist model that does not operate in isolation. YPF emerges as its true driving force: it is actively involved in 3 of the 7 approved projects, two of them directly linked to Vaca Muerta.
The lack of citizen participation, the absence of accountability mechanisms, and the criminalization of local communities create a particularly concerning scenario for extractive projects that extend over three decades.
The RIGI in Numbers
-19 applications for adherence: 7 approved and 1 rejected.
-The sectors that applied are: 10 mining (5 lithium, 3 copper, 2 gold), 3 renewable energy (2 wind farms and 1 solar), 3 hydrocarbon infrastructure, 1 steel, 1 biofuels, and 1 port infrastructure.
-The investment committed by the projects submitted would amount to more than 30.760 billion dollars.
-The largest volumes of foreign currency are concentrated in primary extractive activities, especially projects to expand exports from Vaca Muerta and mining.
-The 7 approved projects represent a total investment of 13.067 billion dollars, distributed in hydrocarbons (2), mining (2), renewable energy (2), and steel (1).
-The hydrocarbon sector concentrates the highest investment amounts with 3 projects totaling 9.790 billion dollars.
-The mining sector concentrates the largest number of projects with a total of 10 proposals for an estimated investment of 19.312 billion dollars. Five of these projects are in the lithium sector, located in Salta and Catamarca, and four in San Juan.
The RIGI Observatory is made up of:
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) – Centro de Políticas Públicas para el Socialismo (CEPPAS)
– Escuela de Política y Gobierno de la Universidad Nacional de San Martín (EPyG/UNSAM) – Espacio de Trabajo Fiscal para la Equidad (ETFE) – Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN)
