Kicillof Uses Bank of the Province as a Political Bargaining Chip

To secure the necessary two-thirds, the head of government opened the door to the board and hierarchical positions of the financial entity to representatives of PRO, UCR, dialogist libertarian sectors, and leaders with a Massa background. The operation was surgical: while negotiating the debt vote by vote and restructuring the leadership of the Chamber of Deputies with a rotating scheme functional to the ruling party, Kicillof offered strategic positions at the Bank of the Province to opposition lawmakers and territorial operators who, in another context, would have been openly hostile. With the support secured, the Legislature gave the green light in a marathon session that ended after three in the morning. While Kicillof consolidates his power structure looking towards 2027, the institutional map of Buenos Aires province is being reconfigured: the Bank of the Province, increasingly loaded with co-opted opposition figures; the Tribunal of Accounts, aligned with the Executive; and the Legislature, trapped in a web of agreements mixing positions, debt, and fund distribution. To these are added figures close to Massaism and the governor himself, such as Javier Osuna and Javier Bordoni, confirming that the bank's structure serves as a bargaining chip in every relevant parliamentary negotiation. Meanwhile, a less visible but equally significant movement occurred in the Honorable Tribunal of Accounts in 2022, where, following the resignation of Eduardo Grinberg—who had led the body for 35 years—the governor promoted the arrival of Federico Thea, a leader of close trust, trained in the hard peronism of the conurbano and a man in full affinity with the provincial political project. Today, emblematic positions of radicals remain, who show opposition in the province but operate from national-level radical foundations, also showing closeness to the government but subtly undermining it. In political terms, the result is explicit: the spaces that previously served to control power now function as a refuge for opposition figures integrated into the Kicillofist scheme, while the body in charge of auditing public spending falls into the hands of a leader from the governor's political inner circle. In the legislative halls, opposition deputies describe the situation without metaphors: 'The Bank of the Province is the great sucker-in of opposition figures, and the Tribunal of Accounts is the institutional booty that ensures Kicillof's governability.' The package that allowed the approval of the debt was completed with a millionaire agreement to distribute up to 8% of the total debt among mayors, in installments extending until 2027. LA PLATA, December 3, 2025 – Total News Agency-TNA – Governor Axel Kicillof once again deployed his main political negotiation tool: the Bank of the Province, which in recent months has become a broad device for absorbing tensions, co-opting circumstantial allies, and securing key legislative support. Thus, the BAPRO was consolidated as the great zone of political cushioning and containment for the provincial government. Among the appointments approved by the ruling party are the macrist Matías Ranzini, the Monzoist radical Marcelo Daletto, as well as Fernando Rozas, a leader aligned with the most dialogist libertarians. The appointment even required amending the Organic Law of the body. The maneuver did not go unnoticed among mayors and opposition blocs, who warn that the Tribunal of Accounts—conceived historically as an independent control body, usually led by non-officialist profiles—is now under management aligned with the Provincial Executive, while its former technical cadres are taking up places on the Bank of the Province's board. The recent approval of a $3.5 billion debt in the Buenos Aires Legislature was no exception.