The municipality of Necochea, in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, is preparing a claim for financial damages after a court injunction delayed the sale of its Casino Complex by four months.
Officials say the postponement caused losses due to exchange-rate fluctuations and the continued cost of maintaining the property.
According to Ernesto Povilaitis, the city's Secretary of Legal and Technical Affairs, the sale is now moving forward. The purchase agreement has been signed between the municipality, the auctioneer and the winning company, the buyer has paid the initial 25% of the purchase price and the decree approving the sale has been issued.
Povilaitis said: "The procedure is the one set out in the ordinance."
The remaining 75% of the purchase price has been converted to US dollars and will be paid in four annual installments. Once the funds are confirmed by the municipal treasury, the city will formally transfer possession of the property. Municipal staff still working at the site will be relocated once the handover is complete.
Povilaitis said the municipality is examining a damages claim related to the judicial injunction, which postponed the auction, originally scheduled for February, by four months. He said the delay affected all Necochea residents.
As an example, Povilaitis said the exchange rate used to convert the outstanding dollar-denominated balance rose from ARS1,425 per US dollar on February 10 to ARS1,460 on June 9, a difference he said reduced the municipality's proceeds by the equivalent of $61,500.
He added that this represented only part of the total loss, as the municipality continued paying maintenance, utilities and staffing costs during the delay.
Asked whether the municipality would pursue legal action against those responsible for the injunction, Povilaitis said: "It's what's appropriate," adding that the party who filed the injunction had signed a sworn statement accepting responsibility for any resulting damages.
The municipality said it has stopped paying the complex's electricity bill, now that responsibility for site costs has shifted to the buyer
