US court protects Citgo from shares of PDVSA bondholders

Judge Katherine Polk Failla, of the Southern District of New York, ruled in favor of the suspension measure requested by the ad hoc administrative board of PDVSA, appointed by the Venezuelan Parliament, with an opposition majority.

In the order, this magistrate stops the possible actions of creditors who have PDVSA 2020 bonds, which are backed by Citgo shares, pending the resolution of a previously filed appeal.

On December 23, the United States government extended until July 2021 Citgo’s protection against the possibility of a seizure by the creditors of the state oil company.

In a notification, the Treasury Department announced that it decided to extend until July 21, 2021 the license that prohibits the holders of the PDVSA 2020 bond from executing the guarantee granted by the majority shareholder, protecting Citgo.

Protection for Citgo, a company under the control of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, has been extended several times and was scheduled to expire on January 19, just one day before US President-elect Joe Biden succeeds the current one. President Donald Trump.

Specifically, the Treasury license will prohibit transactions with the PDVSA 2020 bond, which is in default and has 51.1% of Citgo shares as collateral, until July 21, 2021, indicated the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury.

Carlos Vecchio, delegate to the United States of Juan Guaidó, president of the current National Assembly of Venezuela, celebrated this Tuesday the decision of the New York court, ensuring that the “responsible strategy that we have established for the protection of Citgo continues to bear fruit.” .

“It is clear that we have done and will continue to do everything to protect and preserve Citgo for Venezuelans,” Vecchio said in a statement.

G. Febres

With information from Venezuelan national media, EFE agency and social networks