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jv123 - I don't think that is what Mole is saying. He is saying that the contract can be cancelled if a material breach is found. He is stating it might be possible, if not sadly ironic, that the concession given by FRR - the relatively small payment issue around mineral tax - could be used as a way to prove material breach.

I am not sure if you are a sometime poster but a regular reader of the board but I suggest you click on Moles name and read his previous posts as he has been consistent on the material breach issue.

Mole mentions the "paltry sums on the mineral license" - this is what Zaza said on 30th April -

"In addition, they demanded the cancellation of the contract, which was not satisfied. Instead, the court granted the state a very trivial matter, which we did not even dispute. We pay the state the advance tax on the entrails every year, and this advance, which was not a large sum and is about $ 200,000, had to be paid to us. It's just that the state has our debt and we were telling it to reduce that debt in that amount. The arbitral tribunal granted this request to the State."

Thanks Mole you have managed to sum up the likely situation we find ourselves in. Let us hope this isn't the end game and there is at least one more twist to this extraordinary story.

Pt.2

"The goal of building the port of Anaklia was to reduce Georgia’s dependence on Russia, the letter said.

“We are writing to express our indignation at the deterioration in the quality of public administration and potential illegal financial actions in Georgia. We are more and more concerned about Georgia’s ties with US opponents and enemies, which is due to our geostrategic and business interests.

In recent years, foreign direct investment in Georgia has fallen by about 50%, while taxes and bureaucratic barriers have increased for Western businesses.

These management problems directly undermine the operations of American companies and our ties with Georgia, the possibility of deepening relations with Frontera Resources (Texas), which is the largest American investor in the oil and gas sector in Georgia. They invested $ 500 million for oil and gas exploration. Recently, Frontera has become the target of regulations and restrictions, and now it faces the threat of possible expropriation by the Georgian government.

In 2019, another American company, Conti Group, was expelled in the same way from the consortium that built the port in Anaklia, which suspended this project, ”American politicians write.

The letter also notes that the goal of Frontera's work on energy production was to ensure energy independence and stability of the country, and the construction of the port in Anaklia was to reduce Georgia’s dependence on Russian port infrastructure.

The authors believe that the actions of the Georgian side are dictated by geopolitical interests: Ivanishvili is connected with Russia, to which there is documentary evidence.

They also report to Mike Pompeo about the increased activity of Iranian business in Georgia bypassing US sanctions, as well as the deterioration in the quality of public administration in this country.

Thus, Washington has additional reasons for exerting specific pressure on the current ruling team of Georgia. And in such circumstances, knowing about this letter, Ivanishvili is unlikely to dare to persist in the reluctance to change the system of parliamentary elections.

Source - https://zerkalo.az/ivanishvili-oblozhili/

Pt.1 - (FRR is discussed)

"It can be said that with the release of two well-known opposition figures, the political situation in Georgia is already different.

“The only thing I can do is to say Ivanishvili in a language that he understands: when they tell you that you are a teapot, you must let off steam from one place. The whole world told him that he was a teapot, so he had to act. " Such words, having left the prison in Rustavi, were told to journalists by one of the leaders of the opposition party “European Georgia”, former mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava, Georgia Online reports.

 
He also expressed the hope that another political prisoner, George Rurua, would soon be released. According to him, if this does not happen, the agreement between the authorities and the opposition will not be considered fulfilled and the opposition will not take part in the vote on constitutional amendments.

“Our citizens once again saw two things - that the country is ruled by a person who does harm to himself. My detention and release was damage to him. This man is mentally a scoop, geopolitically - Russian, socially exalted beggar, and personally - a liar. Therefore, there are no preconditions for him to continue to rule the country.

Our citizens saw that activity and integrity have a price and will always produce results. Georgia is not alone, and the country is not covered with straw, no matter how Ivanishvili tries to do it, he will not succeed, ”said Ugulava.

A joint statement was also made by those under whose pressure the Georgian authorities trembled - James Rish, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Gene Shahin. They noted that the release of Ugulava and Okruashvili is a strong signal for those who participated in the process of reaching an agreement of March 8.

According to them, they “look forward” to the implementation of changes in the electoral system and the release of George Rurua. “In the following weeks, after the parliament returns to the working regime, we look forward to the implementation of the agreed changes. We also expect the release of Georgy Rurua, the media owner, who was detained in December on false charges, ”the statement said.

However, this is not the only problem for the Georgian authorities. Four senators and a congressman addressed US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin with a letter expressing concern about the deterioration of government in Georgia, the impairment of American business, the intensification of Iranian business in this country bypassing American sanctions, as well as the connection of an informal ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili countries with Moscow.

The appeal pays special attention to the history of the American companies Frontera Resources and Conti Group, which the Georgian authorities squeezed out of the country for geopolitical reasons.

From this statement -

"According to Hogan & Lovells, after the arbitral tribunal upheld the claim of the corporation and the agency and found a substantial breach of contract by the Frontera, the Georgian side had full right to decide to terminate the contract and a proper notice was sent to it. The company explains that this decision is irreversible and cannot be denied even if the area is returned by the Frontera. All of the above is confirmed by the motivational part of the arbitral tribunal's decision, which also testifies to the fact that the arbitral tribunal was aware of the objectives of the corporation and the agency's request for substantial violation and its consequences."

And in Zaza's words on 4th May -

"Simply put, they have no right to terminate the contract unilaterally, nor does the contract contain a promise to terminate the contract early. It was the termination of the contract with Frontera that was the most important request of the government, accusing the company of violating a number of terms of the contract, but the court did not comply with this request of the government.

I guess one of them has to be right?

Pt.2 - I think this is a rehash of an earlier statement with some additional quotes -
"It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post in 2022. Now that the tribunal has already determined that it is committed to conceding the territories that still need to be allocated in 2017, they are pretending to do so, ”the lawyer explained.

He also stressed that the dispute was discussed at the International Arbitration Tribunal by three very high-ranking international arbitrators. Stockholm was designated as the venue for the process. None of the arbitrators, or judges, were Georgians - one of them was a Swiss, the second a German living in London, and the third a US citizen. The Georgian side now wants to enforce their decision.

Carl Fairnbacher claims that Frontera tried to politicize the case from the beginning, but adds that it is not a political issue and a dispute, it is a commercial dispute

Source -https://commersant.ge/ge/post/karl-foernbaxeri-frontera-saqmis-politizirebas-dasawyisidanve-cdilobda

Pt.1

The international court is very clear and not subject to interpretation," - responds Frontera issue processes and incorrect information dissemination efforts to the international law firm Hogan & Lovells-'s lawyer Carl poernbakheri that the Oil and Gas Corporation and the State Agency for Oil and Gas Frontera's interests against the current international arbitration dispute defending.

Hogan & Lovells responded to Frontera's claims that the arbitral tribunal had rejected the corporation's and the agency's request to terminate the contract. According to the company, such a request has not been made and could not have been made, as the Georgian side has the right to do so only if the arbitral tribunal upholds a substantial breach of contract by the Frontier.

According to Hogan & Lovells, after the arbitral tribunal upheld the claim of the corporation and the agency and found a substantial breach of contract by the Frontera, the Georgian side had full right to decide to terminate the contract and a proper notice was sent to it. The company explains that this decision is irreversible and cannot be denied even if the area is returned by the Frontera. All of the above is confirmed by the motivational part of the arbitral tribunal's decision, which also testifies to the fact that the arbitral tribunal was aware of the objectives of the corporation and the agency's request for substantial violation and its consequences.

Carl Fairnbacher could not hide his surprise at the attempt to politicize the community, saying there had been no such case during his 20-year practice.

"The decision is quite clear and will not be interpreted. The Georgian side has made a proposal to make the decision public so that it can be made available to the public, and discussions on this issue have come to an end, although the Fronter has refused to do so and has preferred to make incorrect statements about the content of the decision. The whole discussion about who is the winner is completely useless and irrelevant. The demand of the Georgian side included 3-4 main issues: the issuance of an order on the concession of almost 99% of the first territories, which the Frontera had to do back in November 2017, and since then it has refused to do so; The second was to prove that the Frontier had substantially breached the contract; The third is the issuance of an order by the Frontera regarding the reimbursement of legal costs related to the process.

And they posted another short message around 1am declaring - "that US Congressmen pay tens of thousands of dollars to FRR!!!"

Assume that should be the other way round!

Great finds Keysersoze - very strong articles. The momentum is building.

Little bit concerned by the "Our Frontera is bankrupt" remark though I guess he is talking about the Georgian entity that is being liquidated.

With thanks to DomFok for originally posting these

From a FRR statement on 4th May -

"The arbitral award shall not contain or imply termination of the Frontera contract. This statement by the corporation is intended to deliberately continue to spread inaccurate, misleading and fabricated information in order to harm and discredit our company. Simply put, they have no right to terminate the contract unilaterally, nor does the contract contain a promise to terminate the contract early.
It was the termination of the contract with Frontera that was the most important request of the government, accusing the company of violating a number of terms of the contract, but the court did not comply with this request of the government. The court also rejected a request from the authorities to pay the Frontier about Rs 320 crore.
As for the government’s demand to return some search area, we want to clarify that this is an area where the government, represented by the former Minister of Energy, heads of the Oil and Gas Corporation and the Agency and others, has publicly stated for years that the area is completely useless and unpromising. Oil and gas In terms of potential. We will of course return this area to the state according to their wishes and the decision of the court."

And from 30th April -
"The vast majority of the state's demands have not been met by the international arbitration and it is unclear where the state's profits against the Frontera can be seen. Most importantly, none of the financial claims were met by the state court, a claim that has been challenged since 2013, as if we were misleading the distribution of oil and gas products to the state, as if we were not paying the state the money it deserved. The amount demanded by them exceeded 100 million dollars - they refused. In addition, they demanded the cancellation of the contract, which was not satisfied. Instead, the court granted the state a very trivial matter, which we did not even dispute. We pay the state the advance tax on the entrails every year, and this advance, which was not a large sum and is about $ 200,000, had to be paid to us. It's just that the state has our debt and we were telling it to reduce that debt in that amount. The arbitral tribunal granted this request to the State."

Reading these statements against the 4 points mentioned by the lawyer-
1- Return 99% = this is now in motion.
2- Violation of contract = robust rejection by FRR. I am not sure if it matters but the talk now is of "substantial breach" whereas before it was "material breach"
3- Financial claims = FRR claim none awarded to GOGC
4-FRR law suit = as RegDik points out this had already been withdrawn as a "goodwill gesture" by FRR, though the lawyers might have been involved in the discussion so can take credit.

WHamboy - I ran the statement through a few translate sites and got some differences, for example

"Whatever their goal, they still have the political pressure to stay on the territory of Georgia"

I am not sure it reads the same way as the original version - does it mean political pressure from USA to stay or elements within Georgia? Agree that section seems a bit out of place with the rest of the statement and the other articles from today

They are a rehash of whats out there but there may be more later that push back against US claims regarding Iran. They mention FRR in relation to the comments in the letters.

"US lawmakers warn of "violation of Iranian sanctions in Georgia"

-http://news.armanin.ir/fa/content/17740910/?????-???????????-??????-??????-«???-?????%E2%80%8C???-?????-??-???????».html

Cheers bugsy-b, so the contents of the news clip looks to be the same as the article. Thanks for figuring it out.

Freeatlast - If I recall correctly, I think Mole suggested (apologies if it wasn't him or I misconstrue what he said) that Outrider might be willing to delay as right now they might get nothing. If they agree to a delay then there might be money in a pot worth fighting for. Mind you its been long day of cut and paste so my memory might be playing tricks on me!

I just realised that the link I posted to the GOGC statement also has a 1.30m news segment attached which features the guy from GOGC. Not sure if anything new is in the piece but if anyone knows how to translate here is the link again -

http://rustavi2.ge/ka/news/164659?fbclid=IwAR1kNXRSNJsur09mNVIsbNOwdycQXUev7NAmYb5g7jMphN9x-CB3HWP6wtI

Thanks in advance if anyone can figure it out.

Along similar lines - "Georgia turning away from the West? US legislators claim foul play against US business in Georgia"

https://jam-news.net/georgia-turning-away-from-the-west-us-legislators-claim-foul-play-against-us-business-in-georgia/

great detective work bugsy-b!

PJohn - you know the GOGC claim to have won and FRR claim otherwise. Until we see the actual award, or both sides make a joint statement in regard to findings then we don't know.

As predicted by Zibs at 23:43 last night!