Enrique Eskenazi Ojalvo

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.

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. 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.

In 2008, after Repsol sold 14.9 percent of YPF to the Petersen group, Eskenazi became vice-chairman and director of YPF. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Death Eskenazi died at his home in Santa Fe on 27 January 2025, aged 99.