CITGO headquarters in Houston, Texas, with the flags of the US, Venezuela, the state of Texas, and the CITGO emblem. Photo: Reuters.
This Wednesday, October 12, Venezuela issued a statement rejecting the arbitrary decision of the US, regarding to the judicial sale of the shares of the state-owned company CITGO Petroleum, belonging to PDV Holding, a company owned by Petróleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA).
The document was shared by the Ministry for Petroleum’s Twitter account, on Wednesday afternoon.
CITGO About to Be Terminated: US Judge Approves Sale of Shares
According to the text released by the Alí Rodríguez Araque Presidential Commission (formed by President Nicolás Maduro to consolidate the Venezuelan oil industry), Venezuela rejects the illegal order issued by a judge of the US District of Delaware, Leonard P. Stark, which establishes a set of procedures for an alleged judicial sale of the shares of CITGO.
The Venezuelan government blasted the "arbitrary" and "illegal" order by Delaware Judge Stark that will see CITGO shares auctioned to satisfy international arbitration claims from foreign corporations, Crystallex to begin w/. Caracas says it will defend its interests to the end https://t.co/dcY0YCIh5Y
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) October 12, 2022
Part of the text indicates that, “the Venezuelan State completely rejects this reckless decision; tainted with arbitrariness and veiled with partiality by the judge who dictates it, who, aligned with the company Crystallex International Corp (Crystallex), which is part of the international framework, responding to the hegemonic and imperial power of the United States of America, thus deepening its multiform war and its intention to indiscriminately plunder the assets belonging to the Venezuelan people.”
Last Monday, news agencies reported that US federal judge, Leonard P. Stark, presented and approved an auction schedule to sell shares of the Venezuelan state-owned company CITGO Petroleum which, if carried out, could lead to the dismantling of the most valuable Venezuelan asset abroad.
Stark, “approved the sale of shares in PDV Holding, whose only asset is CITGO shares, to pay Canadian mining corporation, Crystallex, $970 million,” on the grounds of a litigation for the expropriation of a mine in Venezuela, a litigation that was plagued with irregularities.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DD
