State oil company PDVSA denounces US “policy of aggression” against Venezuela

The Venezuelan oil company PDVSA denounced, in a statement released on Tuesday, the “aggression policy” applied by the Government of the United States, which through sanctions and judicial decisions have generated the “loss” of the value of the assets of the state company.

“PDVSA denounces before the international community the policy of aggression sustained by the Government of the United States of America, through unilateral and illegal coercive measures, judicial decisions and other measures of a restrictive and punitive nature, which have resulted in the loss of value of PDVSA assets”, said the state company in the text published on its Twitter account.

The company “categorically” rejects the decision of the US Treasury Department not to take “coercive measures” to block the auction or a negotiated agreement on the shares of PDV Holding, the holding company of Citgo, a subsidiary of PDVSA in the United States.

In a statement, he specified that he will not take action against “any person or entity to participate in, facilitate or comply with the preliminary steps” established by a Court of Delaware (United States) to sell the shares or for taking part in the transactions necessary for that purpose.

PDVSA also rejected the decision, and assured that it is “an illegal sales procedure” that violates the “basic rules” of international law.

The oil company warned that any payment agreement or transaction in relation to any debt, controversy, litigation or judicial decision related to PDVSA that is negotiated under General License 42 issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, for its acronym in English) ) from the US Department of the Treasury.is void and illegal” In Venezuela.

Delaware judge Leonard Stark authorized in January 2021 to sell Citgo shares to compensate Canadian mining company Crystallex for the nationalization, more than a decade ago, of a gold deposit operated by the mining company in Venezuela.

Despite that decision, and due to the sanctions, the sale could not proceed without first having an OFAC permit. The schedule stipulated a period of six months, until this April, to consult with OFAC about the procedure.

In October 2022, the same magistrate approved a schedule for the auction of the shares of the Citgo holding company.

The Treasury acknowledged Monday that, as indicated in the Crystallex case, it will have to issue an additional license in the future before executing any sale after evaluating the identity of the potential buyer.

However, he anticipated that OFAC has “the intent to implement a favorable licensing policy for such requests”. According to the court order, Citgo is valued at about $12 billion and the debt to Crystallex is $970 million.

Source: EFE