Buenos Aires, July 21st 2016
COMISIÓN NACIONAL DE VALORES
Argentine Securities and Exchange Commission
25 de Mayo 175
Issuers´ Sub-Management Office
BOLSA DE COMERCIO DE BUENOS AIRES
Argentine Stock Exchange
Sarmiento 299
Ref: Material Fact
Dear Sirs,
I hereby address you on behalf ofEmpresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte S.A. (EDENOR) (the “Company”) in accordance with the regulations in force in order to inform regarding the possible effects resulting from the injunctive reliefs issued by different Courts which were informed during the last weeks and which have provisionally suspended Resolutions 6 y 7/2016 issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mining and Resolution 1/2016 issued by the National Electricity Regulatory Board (the “Injunctive Reliefs”).
The measures described result in the 80% of Edenor’s customer paying for the energy supply at present the tariff in force at January 2016. Likewise, for more than 30 % of the Company’s customers, the suspension applies retroactively to February 2016, by which these customers will be credited in the upcoming invoices for payments made pursuant to the tariff increases between February and June 2016. Said credit balances will imply that customers subjected to retroactive injunctive reliefs will not have to pay for its energy invoice for approximately 16 months.
The injunctive reliefs continue to be judicially discussed both by the Company as well as by the National Government. In this regard, it is expected that the Supreme Court of Justice of the Argentine Republic admits the extraordinary appeal aimed at reviewing the court orders instructing the injunctive reliefs. In this sense, the Attorney General's Office1in other opportunities has already considered appropriate the extraordinary resource for a Distributor of neutral gas against an injunctive relief that suspended tariffs increases in 2014.
The above mentioned situation, if kept over time, would generate a cash flow deficit for the Company of approximately $4.800 million pesos this year. Subject to the following paragraph, the insufficiency of funds available would set theCompany’s operations at risk, which will have to incur again in delays regarding the payment of energy acquired from MEM, the cessation of investment and cut of other operational costs, of which salaries represent an 80%.
Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima (EDENOR S.A.)
Avda. del Libertador 6363 – Buenos Aires, C1428ARG – Argentina. Tel.: 4346-5400 Fax: 4346-5327
In view that the injunctive reliefs suspend the application of Resolution 7/2016issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mining, which among other things, revoked Resolution SE 32/2015 (Transfer of National Treasury Funds to the federal distributors to cover the operational deficit generated by the lack of tariffs increase), the Company considers that Resolution 32/2015 retrieves validity in those jurisdictions reached by the funds transferred by the Government to Edenor in accordance with the schedule set forth by the mentioned Resolution.
Notwithstanding the above, the Company considers that the measures applied by the government in connection with the tariff increase are indispensable to contribute with the transparency and sustainability of the energy sector, being not reasonable that 70% of the customers, many of them with payment ability, pay energy invoices of about $50 on monthly basis, causing grants to support those customers under economic vulnerability through the application of the Social Tariff.
Yours faithfully,
Carlos D. Ariosa
EDENOR S.A.
Attorney-in-fact
Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte Sociedad Anónima (EDENOR S.A.)
Avda. del Libertador 6363 – Buenos Aires, C1428ARG – Argentina. Tel.: 4346-5400 Fax: 4346-5327
Empresa Distribuidora y Comercializadora Norte S.A. | ||
By: | /s/ Leandro Montero | |
Leandro Montero | ||
Chief Financial Officer |