The government is demanding that universities return $33 billion in funds they never earned.

The Government continues its oversight of state coffers and how the budget has been executed in recent years, in this case, in the area of ​​Science and Technology.

In this context, the Secretariat is moving forward with requesting the reimbursement of $33 billion from those universities and institutions that have not yet submitted their funds. The resolution requesting this amount was even published in the Official Gazette .

As described in a statement, "an initial survey revealed that 672 institutions were beneficiaries of grants, with outstanding debt for accountability of approximately $33 billion."

Furthermore, it clarifies that "the resolution extends the deadline until June 30, 2025, for beneficiary institutions and administrative units (UVT) to submit their funds and/or reimburse unspent amounts, including interest if provided for."

It also states that "after this deadline, no new extensions will be granted" and that "if the corresponding account of the transferred funds and/or unspent amounts are not returned, the relevant recovery actions will be initiated. This deadline is non-extendable and must be met from the date the measure is issued until the deadline."

Furthermore, they clarify that "the accounting must be carried out in accordance with the General Regulations for Accounting of Funds Transferred to Beneficiaries, approved by Resolution No. 795 dated November 2, 2023," and that "unexecuted amounts must be reimbursed according to the procedure established in the same regulations."

Finally, it is recalled that "cases of non-compliance must be referred to the Secretariat's permanent legal service to initiate the necessary actions for recovery" and that "this measure does not entail any budgetary expenditure."

PAY OR RETURN Today I signed a resolution so that 672 institutions that have pending returns for more than $30,000,000,000 from the former MINCyT regularize their situation or return the money (with interest). They have until 06/30/2025, there is no extension.

All of these…

— Darío Genua (@DarioGenua) April 30, 2025

In the extensive list of 672 institutions that owe the most money, seven stand out in particular, all with outstanding returns of more than $400 million.

The National Technological University (UTN), for example, never returned or surrendered $902,715,606; the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) $896,272,705, the Arturo Jauretche National University, $683,308,996, the National University of La Plata, $581,062,756, the National University of General San Martín (UNSAM) $571,781,412, the Scientific Research Commission of the Province of Buenos Aires (CIC) $436,004,115 and the National University of Hurlingham, $435,980,499.

Darío Genua, Secretary of Science and Technology, addressed the issue on social media. "Pay it forward or they'll return it," he tweeted. He added, "Today I signed a resolution requiring 672 institutions with outstanding returns totaling more than $30 billion from the former Ministry of Science and Technology (MINCyT) to regularize their situation or return the money (with interest). They have until June 30, 2025; there is no extension. All these irregularities ultimately harmed researchers and their institutions."