Gold Reserve Announces Portugal Court Enters Judgment Against Venezuela Confirming Arbitration Award Valued in Excess of $1.1 Billion
24 Fevereiro 2025 - 9:30AM
Business Wire
Gold Reserve Ltd. (TSX.V: GRZ) (OTCQX: GDRZF) (“Gold
Reserve” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce an
important development in its ongoing efforts to recognize and
enforce its arbitral award dated September 22, 2014 (the “Award”)
against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Venezuela”).
On February 20, 2025, the Lisbon Court of Appeal issued an Order
granting the Company’s application to confirm the Award in
Portugal, and entered judgment for the Company against Venezuela in
the amount of $713,032,000 plus (i) pre-award interest in the
amount of $22,299,576, (ii) post-award interest on the total amount
awarded, inclusive of pre-award interest, at a rate of LIBOR plus
2%, compounded annually, from September 22, 2014, until payment in
full; and (iii) $5 million in legal fees and costs (collectively,
the “Judgment”).
The total amount of Judgment at present, inclusive of interest,
exceeds $1.1 billion.
The Judgment supports the Company’s ongoing efforts to enforce
the Award in Portugal. In connection therewith, the Company has
obtained attachment orders against multiple bank accounts in
Portugal holding in total more than $1.4 billion. Recovery is not
certain in the Portugal legal proceedings due to multiple factors.
Among other considerations, further court orders are required to
attempt to collect against any of the attached funds, and the
priority of the Company’s attachments on each bank account is not
identical and is not definite, as is the priority of the Company’s
attachments vis-à-vis other creditors.
The Company’s recognition and enforcement efforts in Portugal
are in addition to those being undertaken in the United States,
including the Company’s ongoing participation in the sales and
bidding procedures established by the U.S. District Court for the
District of Delaware for the sale of the shares of PDV Holdings,
Inc. (“PDVH”), the indirect parent company of CITGO Petroleum Corp.
Any recovery in the Delaware proceedings will offset the amount
that can be recovered on the Award in the Portugal legal
proceedings, and vice versa.
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. They are frequently
characterized by words such as "anticipates", "plan", "continue",
"expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate",
"may", "will", "potential", "proposed", "positioned" and other
similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions
"may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements contained in this
press release include, but are not limited to, statements relating
to the Bid.
We caution that such forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other risks that may cause the
actual events, outcomes or results of Gold Reserve to be materially
different from our estimated outcomes, results, performance, or
achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking
statements, including but not limited to: the Judgment is subject
to appeal by Venezuela; the Company may not succeed in collecting
against any of the funds attached in Portugal; further court orders
are required to attempt to collect against any of the funds that
are attached in Portugal; the priority of the Company’s attachments
on each bank account in Portugal is not identical and is not
definite, the priority of the Company’s attachments in Portugal
vis-à-vis other creditors is not identical and is not definite;
regulatory approvals may be required to collect on any funds in
Portugal, and the existence of such approvals cannot be assured; in
the Delaware proceedings, the discretion of the Special Master to
consider the Bid, to enter into any discussions or negotiation with
respect thereto and that the Special Master may reject the Bid at
any time; the Special Master may choose not to recommend a Stalking
Horse Bid or Final Bid to the Court; the failure of the Company to
negotiate the Bid, including as a result of failing to obtain
sufficient equity and/or debt financing; that Bid submitted by the
Company will not be selected as the “Stalking Horse Bid” or the
“Final Recommend Bid” under the Bidding Procedures, and if selected
may not close due to the Sale Process not being completed,
including as a result of not obtaining necessary regulatory
approval to close on the purchase of the PDVH shares, including but
not limited to any necessary approvals from the U.S. Office of
Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”), the U.S. Committee on
Foreign Investment in the United States, the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission or the TSX Venture Exchange; failure of the Company or
any other party to obtain any required shareholders approvals for,
or satisfy other conditions to effect, any transaction resulting
from the Bid; that the Company forfeit any cash amount deposit made
due to failing to complete the Bid or otherwise; that the making of
the Bid or any transaction resulting therefrom may involve
unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; that, prior to or as a
result of the completion of any transaction contemplated by the
Bid, the business of the Company may experience significant
disruptions due to transaction related uncertainty, industry
conditions or other factor; the ability to enforce the writ of
attachment granted to the Company; the timing set for various
reports and/or other matters with respect to the Sale Process may
not be met; the ability of the Company to otherwise participate in
the Sale Process (and related costs associated therewith; the
amount, if any, of proceeds associated with the Sale Process; the
competing claims of other creditors of Venezuela, PDVSA and the
Company, including any interest on such creditors’ judgements and
any priority afforded thereto; uncertainties with respect to
possible settlements between Venezuela and other creditors and the
impact of any such settlements on the amount of funds that may be
available under the Sale Process; and the proceeds from the Sale
Process may not be sufficient to satisfy the amounts outstanding
under the Company’s September 2014 arbitral award and/or
corresponding November 15, 2015 U.S. judgement in full; and the
ramifications of bankruptcy with respect to the Sale Process and/or
the Company’s claims, including as a result of the priority of
other claims. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may
affect any of the Company’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 on Form 40-F
and Management’s Discussion & Analysis for the year ended
December 31, 2024 and other reports that have been filed on SEDAR+
and are available under the Company’s profile at www.sedarplus.ca
and 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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For further information regarding Gold Reserve Ltd., please
contact:
Rosebank Centre, 5th Floor, 11 Bermudiana Road, Pembroke HM 08,
Bermuda investorrelations@goldreserve.bm
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