Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
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Material breach versus repudiatory breach...
That is the key point and any legal expert will confirm this.
$10bn is within reach...
What a share this is! The supper sleuths spend their days finding the articles then the rest of us dissect and analyse the words in forensic detail trying to find hidden meanings. Even in the good old days of RNSs we always seemed to end up with more questions than answers.
GLAd the sun's shining.
Madp: you can always be relied upon to come out with a positive reason ;).
Would be great if you turned out to be correct.
Looed - That's before all the political pressure from Uncle Sam. This statement might be their way out while 'saving face'.
ODR - It could be about 'saving face' if they are backing down from terminating the whole of the Block 12 contract. They may say it was just a threat to obtain the almost 99% section awarded under the arbitration.
MadP Please take a look at the GOGC website and the statement dated (I think) 29/4 - that states the breach and the breach is the reason for contract termination. The termination has already been applied. Cant copy as just heading out.
Yes Madp, I noticed that too.
Why would they not go on to say that that is what they have done?
Or are we reading too much into it as they have already said that in earlier news on their website?
It seems odd as if they want the journalists to pick this up and put it in newspapers then you'd think they would have.
Johnathansxx - IMHO the more significant statement was :-
' Particularly, the Arbitral Tribunal ruled that FRGC committed material breach of the PSC, which is a ground for terminating the contract.'
They don't mention terminating the contract in the statement, only that the breach is a ground for terminating.
Sounds like they're getting panicky,
"As a consequence of the fact that Frontera refuses to disclose the arbitral award so far, and since Georgian side refrains from unilateral action, we will limit ourselves with just brief information around the main postulates of the award in order to protect the state’s investment image and to satisfy the interested parties: "
and also worried about their image and upsetting the SMs.
This dispute resolution mechanism is a fundamental tenant of the rule of law.
On April 17, 2020, the Arbitration Tribunal rendered its final award. It ruled unanimously that Frontera had committed a material breach of the PSC and ordered FRGC and Frontera Resources US LLC (a codefendant in the proceedings) to pay to the claimants the amount of mineral usage tax and vast majority of the costs incurred by the claimants in connection with the arbitration, which equals to approximately US $6 million in total.
From the beginning of the proceeding, GOGC committed to honor and respect any award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal, and to refrain from unilaterally exercising rights under the PSC pending the final arbitration award. Moreover, the original PSC had a 10-year exploration period that was extended twice to a total of 20 years, which expired in November 2017, thus triggering FRGC’s obligations to relinquish the exploration territories located outside the existing Exploitation/Development Area. The allegations as if SAOG and GOGC were eager to take control of these exploration territories are thus nonsensical.
https://www.gogc.ge/en/article/a-few-necessary-explanations-for-the-outcome-of-the-arbitration-dispute-with-frontera-/485
Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) and the Georgian State Agency of Oil and Gas (SAOG) call on Frontera Resources Georgia Corporation (FRGC) to refrain from unscrupulous actions, disseminating misinformation around the actual outcomes of the arbitration proceedings, and hence politicizing the legal dispute. In addition, Frontera must respect the award of the Arbitral Tribunal—the dispute resolution institute agreed by the parties—and ensure its enforcement. In order to protect society and interested parties from misunderstandings, or misleading information, we call on Frontera to consent to the revocation of the status of confidential document for the arbitral award and consequently to its disclosure.
As a consequence of the fact that Frontera refuses to disclose the arbitral award so far, and since Georgian side refrains from unilateral action, we will limit ourselves with just brief information around the main postulates of the award in order to protect the state’s investment image and to satisfy the interested parties: The Arbitral Tribunal supported legal position of the Georgian side and satisfied a vast majority of the claims made by GOGC and SAOG. Particularly, the Arbitral Tribunal ruled that FRGC committed material breach of the PSC, which is a ground for terminating the contract. As a result, FRGC must reimburse GOGC with approximately 6 million USD for mineral resources usage tax and for legal expenses resulting from the arbitration proceedings.
It is essential and regrettable, that instead of immediate award enforcement, Frontera launched a misleading and State image damaging information campaign that involved basically misinforming US Congress members, friends of Georgia, who relied on the information provided by the company, and were fairly outraged by the actions of an ally like Georgia infringing on the interests of an American company. This reaction would have been understandable if the information provided by Frontera had not been false.
It is unfortunate that Frontera acts as an unscrupulous business entity. However, it is doubly unfortunate and extremely harmful that its dishonesty damages the partnership between Georgia and the United States, as well as hinders Georgia’s vital process of rapprochement with European Union and NATO and sabotages the State’s foreign policy. The Georgian side once again calls on Frontera to respect the April 17, 2020 award of the United Nations-backed Hague Permanent Arbitration Court and consent to its disclosure.
Information Regarding Frontera
FRGC is a Cayman Islands shell company, contractor that committed material breach of PSC thereof, refusing to pay its Georgians workers. The company is facing a number of lawsuits in the US and Cayman Islands. FRGC withholds its consent to disclosure of the April 17, 2020 arbitral award rendered by the arbitration tribunal in the dispute initiated in Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration based on the UN-sponsored arbitration rules