- Rosneft returned shares certificate on June 21: statement
- Transfer ends Rosneft’s claim over almost half of Citgo
Nicolle Yapur and Fabiola Zerpa, Bloomberg News
CARCAS
EnergiesNet.com 06 27 2023
Russian oil giant Rosneft PJSC handed a certificate representing a 49.9% stake in Citgo Holding Inc. to Venezuela’s opposition-controlled Petroleos de Venezuela SA, according to a company statement.
A Rosneft subsidiary delivered the certificate on June 21 after PDV Holding, a Citgo parent company controlled by Venezuela’s opposition, took legal action to recover it. The transfer took place as a Delaware court is considering the sale of PDV Holding shares to satisfy creditors like Crystallex and oil giant ConocoPhillips so they can collect arbitration awards for the expropriation of their Venezuela assets.
Houston-based Citgo is one of Venezuela’s most important overseas assets and sanctions had previously blocked any share transfer. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control awarded a license to PDV Holding in May authorizing Rosneft to hand over the certificate. The shares were pledged to the Russian firm as collateral for a $1.5 billion anticipated oil payment, an operation the Venezuelan opposition deemed illegal, said the statement.
The certificate’s transfer effectively ends Rosneft’s claim over almost half of Citgo. The other half is currently pledged to the holders of a PDVSA bond that expired in 2020, who are also trying to attach the shares for payment.
“Rosneft is no longer included in the long list of creditors that could have a right over Citgo,” said José Ignacio Hernández, former opposition-appointed prosecutor general. “That is good news, even when there are still many outstanding claims.”
Read more: US to Permit Court-Ordered Auction of Citgo Parent’s Shares
Toronto-based Crystallex has been seeking compensation after its gold mine was seized in Venezuela by late president Hugo Chavez. The mining company won an arbitration award in 2016. Oil driller ConocoPhillips is also seeking compensation for its seized assets, along with other creditors.
Last month, the opposition-appointed representative for PDVSA, Horacio Medina, said Citgo had at least $10 billion available to pay creditors with active claims against its assets.
bloomberg.com 06 26 2023
