"Daughter", "Rosneft", which recently received a pledge of Venezuelan assets in the United States, presented a new claim. Following the Canadian Crystallex lawsuit against Rosneft Trading Venezuelan PDVSA and ConocoPhillips filed structure
Subsidiaries of US ConocoPhillips, the largest in terms of reserves and production of independent oil companies in the US and the world are suing the Swiss trading company Rosneft Trading SA (100% owned by "Rosneft"), accusing it of participating in the scheme of "fraudulent transfer of assets» (fraudulent transfer by the laws of Delaware, where an action is brought), controlled by Venezuelan state of PDVSA, said in Caracas-based Latin American Herald Tribune. Earlier, a similar lawsuit against Rosneft Trading SA filed a Canadian mining company Crystallex, wrote RBC.
Conoco, like Crystallex, contests obtaining Rosneft Trading in November 2016 secured the rights to a 49.9% stake in US operator refineries Citgo, owned by Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). According to ConocoPhillips, which is based on media reports and documents filed with regulators Rosneft Trading Delaware, "daughter" of "Rosneft" PDVSA has provided funding of $ 1.5 billion on the security of future supplies of oil and almost half of the Citgo (100% of its shares belong to PDVH, Delaware PDVSA structure). ConocoPhillips makes to Venezuela multibillion demands for the expropriation of several oil projects with Hugo Chavez (in 2013 international arbitration ICSID at the World Bank acknowledged weaning assets illegally) and argues that Venezuela and PDVSA carried out "deliberate campaign to eliminate CITGO cost and asset retirement from the United States Venezuela to prevent creditors and deceive them. "
First, Venezuela and PDVSA tried to sell Citgo, then there seized $ 2.8 billion through the placement of bonds and payment of dividends, and in October 2016 PDVSA refinanced billions of dollars of debt secured a 50,1% Citgo Holding, according to the lawsuit. Finally, in November, "the defendants had a new shuttle to destroy and bring the rest of the cost [Citgo]» through a deal with Rosneft Trading, the plaintiff claims.
Earlier PDVH laid 50,1% Citgo holders of PDVSA bonds, and they agreed to exchange $ 2.8 billion of bonds maturing in 2017 to $ 3.4 billion maturing in 2020, wrote the Latin American Herald Tribune. ConocoPhillips and Canadian Crystallex, also suffered from the nationalization in Venezuela believe that the purpose of transactions, which have become collateral for 100% Citgo, was to monetize this asset and to cash outside US jurisdiction.
Crystallex in early January, asked the same court to recognize Delaware laying Citgo 49.9% of "daughter" of "Rosneft", "fraudulent transfer" of an ordinance canceling the bail, and to prohibit the possible further transmission of the right to bail by Rosneft Trading SA someone yet.
"They took Assets"
Now similar claims relating to "fraudulent transfer of assets", to of PDVSA, its two entities, as well as Rosneft Trading presented the "daughter" of ConocoPhillips - registered in the Netherlands ConocoPhillips Petrozuata BV (ConocoPetrozuata), ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria BV (ConocoGulf), ConocoPhillips Hamaca BV (ConocoHamaca) and registered in Bermuda Phillips Petroleum Company Venezuela Limited (ConocoVenezuela), follows from the lawsuit filed in US district court of Delaware (have RBC).
Through the deal with Rosneft Trading «defendants withdrew assets from the United States to Venezuela, and / or to the" Rosneft ", he says ConocoPhillips in the complaint and asked the US Supreme Court to cancel the transfer and / or liability in a transaction with Rosneft Trading, to oblige the defendants to return to US assets, that could be derived by illegal means, and assign control over them as well as possible to award compensation for damages. Representatives PDVH, PDVSA and Rosneft Trading sent a summons to the court, the court should from the database.
ConocoPhillips Structures want from Venezuela compensation for nationalized assets in previous years have filed three lawsuits in the republic and its state-owned companies. One of these claims in September 2013, granted the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank and now defines the size of the compensation due (Conoco initially requested up to $ 30 billion). Two other ConocoPhillips structure of claim presented in October 2014 to PDVSA and its controlled entities - the hearing in these cases, which took place in the International Chamber of Commerce (International Chamber of Commerce), have been completed.
Citgo Petroleum, operates three US refineries and oil terminals and oil pipelines across the country - the most valuable asset of Venezuela in the United States, according to a new lawsuit ConocoPhillips. "Rosneft" is actively cooperating with PDVSA, and in conjunction with ConocoPhillips to 2015 owned by the Russian company "Aurora."
Press Secretary of "Rosneft" Mikhail Leontyev told RBC that the claim does not differ from the previous one (submitted by Crystallex). Commenting on the lawsuit Crystallex, "Rosneft" reported on January 6 that all transactions "with foreign partners are carried out in accordance with international law and those legal regimes under which those transactions are carried out". The representatives of PDVSA has not yet responded to a request for RBC. The Venezuelan company December 23, 2016 confirmed on its website that it has received "new funding" bail 49,9% Citgo, but did not specify by whom and for what amount. PDVSA retains "full ownership and control" in relation to Citgo Petroleum, stressed in a release.
Source: http://www.rbc.ru/business/12/01/2017/58 773a089a794724c6329242