[Leer en español]
New York, 29 Dec (EFE).
A U.S. court on Tuesday accepted a request from the Venezuelan opposition to protect Citgo, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), from possible actions by PDVSA 2020 bond holders.
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, the judge stops possible actions by creditors holding PDVSA 2020 bonds, which are backed by Citgo shares, pending the resolution of a previously filed appeal.
On December 23rd, the U.S. Government extended the protection to Citgo until July 2021 in view of the possibility of a seizure by the creditors of the state oil company.
In a notice, the Treasury Department informed that it decided to extend until July 21, 2021 the license that prohibits the holders of the PDVSA 2020 bond from enforcing the guarantee granted to them by the majority shareholder, protecting Citgo.
The protection extended to Citgo, a company under the control of Juan Guaidó, has been extended several times and was scheduled to expire on January 19th.
Specifically, the Treasury’s license will prohibit transactions with PDVSA 2020 bonds, which is in default and has 51.1% of Citgo shares as collateral, until July 21, 2021, according to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
