Ascent Resources Share News (AST)

(Sharecast News) - Ascent Resources has filed its appeal against the recent decision of the Slovenian Environment Agency (ARSO) to request an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in respect of the application to re-stimulate its existing wells - Pg-10 and Pg-11A - at the Petišovci concession, it announced on Friday.The AIM-traded firm noted that a new environment minister had been appointed in Slovenia, following the resignation of the previous minister due to allegations of possible corruption.It said the appeal would be reviewed by the ministry, led by the newly-appointed minister in due course.Slovenian guidelines were that the process should be completed within two months, although Ascent said its experience had shown that those guidelines were "often not adhered to"."Based on the advice provided by our legal teams in London and Ljubljana, the board firmly believe that the decision by ARSO was manifestly wrong as it ignored the advice provided by six governmental institutions who concluded that there was no significant risk to the environment and therefore no EIA was required," the directors of Ascent Resources said in their statement."In addition, ARSO confirmed in their decision that according to EU guidelines the project is not equivalent to high volume hydraulic fracturing commonly referred to as 'fracking'."This was a very welcome recognition as we believe this fact is not fully understood by decision makers in Slovenia."Ascent Resources said the IPPC permit, which is required for the processing plant in Slovenia and which was applied for almost five years ago, was still with ARSO for a final decision."It is the position of the company that this decision is long overdue and should have been confirmed at the very latest in November 2017."We provided extensive additional information during 2018 and hope that this permit will be confirmed by ARSO without further damaging delay."While the board said it hoped for a positive outcome from the appeal in relation to the well permit and the final confirmation of the IPPC permit, it said it was continuing to prepare its legal options outside of Slovenia to address the "numerous breaches" of Slovenian and EU law, which it said had caused "significant" economic damage to Ascent shareholders."The appeal has been filed and we look forward to the decision of the new environment minister based on an objective review of the facts," said chief executive officer Colin Hutchinson.As at 1120 GMT, shares in Ascent Resources were up 2.04% at 0.26p.