Gold Reserve Inc. (TSX.V:GRZ) (OTCQX:GDRZF) ("Gold
Reserve" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that
it was granted a conditional writ of attachment fieri facias from
the U.S. District Court of Delaware (the Delaware Court)
regarding the shares of PDV Holding, Inc. (PDVH), the
indirect parent company of CITGO Petroleum Corp.
This order furthers the decision of the Delaware Court in
January 2023 that Gold Reserve’s request for an attachment writ be
treated the same as that of certain Other Creditors (as detailed in
the applicable court documents of the Delaware Court) of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (the Republic of
Venezuela). On March 23, 2023, the Delaware Court granted the
Other Creditors conditional writs of attachment regarding the
shares of PDVH on the basis that Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (also
known as PDVSA), the holding company of PDVH, is the alter ego of
the Republic of Venezuela, and therefore its property is subject to
attachment and execution by judgement creditors of the Republic of
Venezuela.
The writ of attachment is conditional and will not be effective
unless and until the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (also
known as OFAC) has authorized transactions in the PDVH shares. On
the March 30, 2023 hearings, the Delaware Court stated that OFAC
expected to provide a status report to the court-appointed Special
Master overseeing the potential sale of the PDVH shares.
Thereafter, the Special Master is to file a status report on April
30, 2023, to update the Delaware Court on OFAC’s position.
The Delaware Court directed the Company, and the Other
Creditors, to file a joint status report seven days after the
Special Master’s status report, and to include a proposed briefing
schedule for including additional judgements, such as the
Company’s, in the existing sales process for the PDVH shares. The
Company and the Other Creditors need to individually attempt to add
their judgements to the existing sales process and abide by the
Delaware Court’s terms related to the process.
PDVSA stated that it would oppose the inclusion of any
additional judgements in the existing sales process and appeal the
decision of the Delaware Court to grant the Company, and the Other
Creditors, the conditional writs of attachment fieri facias. It is
expected that the resolution of such appeal would take between six
to eighteen months, with no assurances as to timing or outcome.
The conditional writ of attachment provides Gold Reserve the
opportunity to potentially enforce its September 2014 arbitral
award and corresponding November 2015 U.S. judgement by
participating in the potential sale of the PDVH shares. The amount
of Gold Reserve’s award and judgement is approximately U.S.$990
million, inclusive of interest. Further information regarding the
award and judgement can be found in the Company’s most recent
interim financial statements for the period ended September 30,
2022 and the Company’s annual information form for the year ended
December 31, 2021. These documents can be found under the Company’s
profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
If OFAC authorizes the transactions in the PDVH shares, the
Delaware court bailiff will serve the Company’s writ of attachment
fieri facias (and the writs of the Other Creditors), and thereafter
the attachment would be effective.
Rockne J. Timm, CEO, stated, “Today’s announcement is a
confirmation of our rigorous ongoing efforts to take steps in
various jurisdictions to collect U.S. $990 million including
interest, owed by the government of Venezuela. Currently, we have
judgements in multiple jurisdictions confirming our arbitration
award and we have succeeded in attaching funds in another
jurisdiction. Also, the Company remains open, in compliance with
applicable U.S. and Canadian Sanctions, to resolving these matters
outside of our various legal cases and potential new arbitration
with respect to the collection of amounts owed and the restoration
of Siembra Minera’s mining rights.”
Further information on PDVH and CITGO Petroleum Corp.
PDVH is the indirect parent company of CITGO Petroleum Corp.
Based on public disclosure, CITGO Petroleum Corp. operates three
refineries in the U.S, and wholly and/or jointly owns 38 active
terminals, six pipelines and three lubricants blending and
packaging plants. CITGO Petroleum Corp. ranks itself as the
fifth-largest independent refiner in the U.S. with approximately
3,300 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately
769,000 barrels-per-day (bpd).
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of applicable U.S. federal securities laws and
“forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable
Canadian provincial and territorial securities laws and state Gold
Reserve’s and its management’s intentions, hopes, beliefs,
expectations or predictions for the future. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and
assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this
time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and
competitive uncertainties and contingencies. We caution that such
forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other risks that may cause the actual outcomes,
financial results, performance, or achievements of Gold Reserve to
be materially different from our estimated outcomes, future
results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by those
forward-looking statements, including without limitation, the
conditionality of the writ of attachment fieri facias granted to
Gold Reserve, if and when OFAC, and any terms upon which it,
authorizes the issuance and service of such writ or removes the
prohibition and sanctions currently in place that prevent
transactions in the PDVH shares, that PDVSA will oppose the
inclusion of any additional judgements in the existing sales
process and appeal the Delaware Court’s decision to grant the
conditional writs of attachment fieri facias, including the
potential time and cost associated with such appeal and whether
PDVSA will be successful, that the Company will be granted such
order from the Delaware Court such that the Company can formally
participate in any sales process of the PDVH shares, the timing set
for various reports will not be met, the ability to otherwise
participate in the potential sales process in connection with the
PDVH shares (and related costs associated therewith), the amount,
if any, of proceeds associated therewith; the competing claims of
certain creditors, the Other Creditors and the Company, and the
proceeds from the sale of the PDVH shares may not be sufficient to
satisfy the amounts outstanding under the September 2014 arbitral
award and/or corresponding November 15, 2015 U.S. judgement in
full. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect
any of Gold Reserve’s forward-looking statements. For a more
detailed discussion of the risk factors affecting the Company’s
business, see the Company’s Annual Information Form and
Management’s Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December
31, 2021 and other reports that have been filed on SEDAR and are
available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com and which
form part of the Company’s Form 40-F for the year ended December
31, 2021 which have been filed on EDGAR and are available under the
Company’s profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.
Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral
forward-looking statements attributable to Gold Reserve or persons
acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by
this notice. Gold Reserve disclaims any intent or obligation to
update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements
or the foregoing list of assumptions or factors, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, subject to
its disclosure obligations under applicable rules promulgated by
the Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian
provincial and territorial securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230404005785/en/
Gold Reserve Inc. Contact Jean Charles Potvin 999 W.
Riverside Ave., Suite 401 Spokane, WA 99201 USA Tel: (509) 623-1500
Fax: (509) 623-1634
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