BUENOS AIRES, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government on Thursday filed an appeal against a recent ruling by a U.S. court that ordered the country to hand over a 51 percent controlling stake in its state-run energy company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales (YPF) to foreign investment funds.

The ruling, issued on June 30 by Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court in New York, mandated that Argentina transfer the shares to Burford Capital and Eton Park Capital within 14 days. The firms are seeking approximately 16 billion U.S. dollars in compensation over alleged irregularities surrounding YPF's expropriation in 2012.

In a swift response on the social platform X, Argentine President Javier Milei announced that the government would "appeal in all appropriate instances to defend national interests."

Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni confirmed earlier this month that the government had also requested a suspension of the ruling, calling Judge Preska's decision "legally unenforceable."

The case dates back to Argentina's 2012 nationalization of YPF, which was then majority-owned by Spain's Repsol. The investment funds later acquired rights to legal claims originally brought by YPF's minority shareholders, arguing that the expropriation process violated shareholder protections. ■