Member Info for Looed

Bezzy - most of the US cases are Hope related and / or are "personal" involving SN and ZM. So yes it would make sense that any deal with Hope would cover all cases and the others have been inactive for quiet some time. I think the Cayman case you refer to is the FIC case which is a Hope related case.

Ideally the company can rise above the legal quagmire in Georgia given they are in direct talks with the state agencies. If you have a long memory you might recall the previous Economy Minister and the now Ambassador to the US saying they would follow the decisions made in international courts regarding FRC. Here we are with a deal all but done and the GG saying publicly that it recognizes our FRC. So thinks do seem to finally lining up if the company can accommodate Hope and meet the demands of the GG to satisfy the financial awards from arbitration.

Bezzy – yes, I do and they do understand the frustration, they hear it often enough. In their eyes a strategy of minimal comms while they focus on the court cases is a winning formula. The fact you might not like the way they communicate is another matter.

Some say “issue an RNS”, well I am not sure what goes into issuing an RNS but I am pretty sure they lack the infrastructure to do so.

We got nothing while ZM was wrecking the company, and since then, the message has been consistent. A “methodical” approach to litigation and working to secure operations in Georgia. Then, broader comms with shareholders.

There are at least 7 cases ongoing in the USA. (that figure includes the Cali case). We have to hope they all quickly resolve in the wake of the Cali agreement.

If they didn’t give “two hoots” then I doubt we would have heard a thing, or they would have closed the whole thing down and started up in another format. So, we have to see if they are true to their word post litigation and once they resolve operational issues in Georgia.

MontiBurns – Yes via me and they do monitor the “public domain” as they call it, but I don’t know how often they check in here.

And yes, they do acknowledge that we are left to our own devices to find what we can from the public record with no help from them.

It is very frustrating that as Cayman registered company, shareholders have very little in the way of rights to information. They have said on more than one occasion that there will be an update to shareholders post legal proceedings, so we have to see how they react when that happens.

Between now and April the Cali case should conclude, and we will see how that dismissal cascades down to the other cases. We need to see if and how they affect the non-Hope cases. Hopefully things will move quicker here than the ZM case which took 6 months from the Final Judgement to the issuing of the Mandate.

I forgot to add they are fully aware that we know about these developments.

MontuBurns - they won't say anything while the case is still ongoing. What has been filed is a Standby motion, not the final Stipulation. We don't know if this Stipulation will cover all non-Cali cases or if one needs to be handled separately, nor if other litigation might come from this deal. Though they have until April you would assume it would be in both sides interest to deal with outstanding protocols ASAP.

Details of the settlement will not be filed at court. The company is only obliged to file its Stipulation for Dismissal once the parties sign the agreement, not file the agreement itself. From Doc #116 - "Such parties will file a Stipulation for Dismissal upon execution of their settlement agreement."

The “1%” -

“The Arbitration Tribunal has upheld the Claimants’ interpretation of the contract and satisfied a vast majority of the claims raised by JSC Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and LEPL State Agency of Oil and Gas of Georgia. Among the issues decided by the Arbitration Tribunal, it ruled that the Respondent - Frontera Resources Georgia Corporation committed material breach of the contract by refusal to relinquish and return to the State the exploration area, which represents almost 99% of the entire contract area…. triggering FRGC’s obligations to relinquish the exploration territories located outside the existing Exploitation/Development Area.”
https://www.gogc.ge/en/article/a-few-necessary-explanations-for-the-outcome-of-the-arbitration-dispute-with-frontera-/485

The GOGC are working the fields -

"As the chairman of the agency, Giorgi Tatishvili, reported to "Business Partner”, "Frontera" returned 99% of the license block according to the international arbitration order. It has 1% remaining where the Oil and Gas Corporation operates.

“…this oil is managed by the state itself…there is an opportunity for” Frontera " to return. If this does not happen, the state will continue to work there,” – says Giorgi Tatishvili.

“Until this situation with the American management of “Frontera” is sorted out, and they will make a decision whether to return or not, we will work until then,” – says Giorgi Tatishvili."

https://business-partner.ge/biznesi/sakartvelos-navtobis-sektorshi-shesadzloa-frontera-dabrundes

"Oil extraction in Georgia hit a record high since 2015.

According to the data of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC), 39.1 thousand tons of commodity oil were extracted in Georgia last year. In 2021, this figure amounted to 35.3 thousand tons.

Of the extracted oil, investors' share made up 22.06 thousand tons, while the state's - 17.04 thousand tons. The state usually sells its share of oil at the auction. Georgian Light and Georgian Heavy oil are extracted in Georgia.

In 2009-22, 2009 was distinguished by oil extraction, when its volume totaled to 57.6 thousand tons.
https://bm.ge/en/article/how-much-oil-is-extracted-in-georgia/126385/

Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation published natural gas transit data. Gas transit in Georgia is carried out by two gas pipelines - South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) and North Stream Gas Pipeline (NSGP). The South Caucasian main gas pipeline, which is also known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum gas pipeline, transits the gas extracted from the Shah Deniz field from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

Russian gas is transited to Armenia through the North-South main gas pipeline.

Last year, a total of almost 22.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas was transited through both gas pipelines, while in 2019 this figure was 19 billion cubic meters. Annual growth exceeds 17%. It should be noted that compared to 2021, natural gas transit has increased in both gas pipelines.

More than 19.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas was transited through the South Caucasus main gas pipeline in Georgia, while the volume of Russian gas was almost 2.6 billion cubic meters.

As for domestic production, it reduced to 14 million cubic meters last year. In 2021, the total production was 16 million cubic meters. It should be noted that local gas extraction in Georgia is very small (less than 0.5% of the total annual consumption).

According to the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan, in 2022, Azerbaijan exported a total of more than 22 billion cubic meters of gas, which is an annual increase of 18%. According to their own statistics, gas export to Europe increased to 11.4 billion cubic meters. The information published by the Ministry also mentions that a total of 46.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas was produced in the country in 2022. Annually, the country's gas production increased by 6.5% to almost 3 billion cubic meters."
https://bm.ge/en/article/record-volume-of-gas-was-transported-last-year/126102

Thanks Erik, will do.

Thanks Erik9Haggy. That makes the actual total around GBP350 as I have a couple of invoices with Puddy and one not yet invoiced.

Montiburns - to answer you questions - yes still in touch and yes, that has been requested many, many times and I will continue to do so as the situation permits.

Hope all goes well toatie - as I recall the original fund was your idea. Hopefully we will uncover some good news soon.

Erik9Haggy is asking if anyone is willing to step up and organize the fund. He and Puddy are very busy so are asking for help. If no one is willing to step up then they will organize when time permits. We all owe them a vote of thanks for managing the finances of the fund to date.

The balance of the Translation Fund stands at approx. GBP200.00. I am waiting for the actual figure.

The total spent (Jun 2020 – mid Jan 2023) is GBP2,077.00. That figure doesn’t include the very recent filings, so a few more quid to be added that hasn’t been invoiced yet.

In addition to translations, the fund is used to follow court cases, track business records etc.

For the Cali case there is a $9.99 per month charge for “instant access” to documents and then a charge of $3.99 per filing. We have been paying the instant access charge for 3 months and it will be cancelled once the Cali cases concludes.

The Hope Federal case in Texas can be accessed at a cost of $3.99 per filing.

Filings in the courts of Harris County, Texas can be viewed without charge though registration is required. Though free to view, many of these filings are hard to cut and paste, so going forward these might be purchased if deemed worthy. The minimum charge to purchase a filing from Harris County is US$6.00 per filing. Harris County cases are, for the most part, either going nowhere or are cases involving SN not the company.

We do not know the wider implications of any deal with Hope or the recent statement by the GOGC, or if that might result in more litigation in the US, Cayman or Georgia.

In Georgia, access to court related information is limited to media reports and updates to the Georgian Business Registry. This information is not easy to find.

As promising as things might feel post-Hope and considering the recent statement by the GOGC, the fact is that today the company is not producing, is not allowed to produce by order of the courts and has no license to operate as confirmed by the GOGC. Hence the company statement (via JimSlade) that “Our efforts continue to bring Frontera back to operations in Georgia”.

As the focus shifts more fully to Georgia, it is logical to assume that there will be a lot more spoken TV reports and interviews if matters progress positively between the parties. These reports need to be translated.

Regarding Cayman - accessing even basic information on the status of FRC, or any related entity, costs around GBP50-100 per search.

I expect the balance amount of the fund will deplete quickly if events quickly converge post-Hope. I will manage the current balance of the original fund so no one ends up out of pocket.

Morning toatie – Hope seems to have a history, at least with FRC, of imposing punishing and damaging policies on the company and its BoD but then failing to take advantage of these well laid plans. Disruption yes, but long-term success, not so much.

He has multiple, long-running and expensive cases chasing / fighting the company / SN / ZM, though these cases may soon conclude following settlement of the Cali case. He went cap in hand to the GG and was very publicly rebuffed. FTI in Cayman offered him a chance to go after the jewels but he didn’t have the money to do so, so that went nowhere.

The timetable for settlement was related to the court schedule for replies and responses to the Hope motion for Summary Judgement. If Hope thought his case for SJ was so strong, why settle now? As you say some cash and shares might seem better to Hope than the chances of having his Motion for SJ dismissed and the expense and real danger of a bench trial. You could argue the same applies to FRC, but to date they have been happy to agree to the endless revision of court dates and it could be said that Hope “blinked first”

Hard to how much we will find out from subsequent filings in these cases. I expect they will be mostly admin in nature and might just state cases have settled and been dismissed.

Montiburns / all – thanks for your comments.

Monti you say the PSA will be awarded once FRC pay the $6m+ balance from the Arbitration Award. Indeed, that has been a red line for the GOGC since the issuing of the Award. In addition, the company must also present an acceptable finance and technical plan, which was an Achilles Heel in the past. Other than a team of very expensive – and thus far, very successful lawyers, we don’t know what infrastructure the company has in place to fulfill this vital part of the puzzle.

The GOGC are working the fields and now have a “taste” of the money available, it must be helping to pay down debt and absolve some of the wrongs caused by ZM.

You and others point out that the potential for dilution exists depending on the structure of any deal(s). That is a possibility. I weight that against the fact that, for a time, we lost the lot when ZM shafted us all. I do wonder that some fail to realize that, for a time, it was all gone and the consequences that we wouldn’t have seen a penny back on our investment. Indeed, so extensive was the crime that here we are, 3+ years down the line and still unraveling it.

A farm-in partner is possible. Some names / institutions were mentioned in the filings, but the company does talk about the return of FRC, not FRC plus 1. But you can understand why they might want to keep such details out of the public eye until matters are resolved. Deals can be structured in many ways so there is scope for the company to be creative if the financial and technical plans pass muster.

No idea on relisting but at the very least they need an operational and income generating business plan to structure the company and shape its direction.

Earsbern – that’s a good spot and I also thought it looked strange. But if you look at earlier motions filed by Hope, it only names the Hope lawyers not the FRC lawyers. As the Notice of Settlement is an FRC filing, I assume that’s why Hopes team are not mentioned by name. As you say, Hope is on record as claiming shortage of cash so we might learn more once we see the Dismissal filing (if it’s a joint filing) and if it still lists his attorneys or not.

no gamble - the settlement is "in principle" at the moment so not finalized in the legal sense. We will know when the deal is actually signed when the parties file a Stipulation for Dismissal motion. I assume once this is signed by the judge the case is finally concluded. As the parties had talked about a deal "in days" there is a good chance this will be filed soon.

Other Hope cases remain on the books so they will also need to be resolved one way or another before we can say the Hope legal saga is well and truly over. We don't know if this is the case but if part of the deal involves ending all other litigation I expect these other cases will quickly conclude.

Chris572 - I got the same alert. The meeting took place in 1997. That very long article seems to be a celebration of the guys achievements on the 100th anniversary of his birth (at least I think its his birth)

WHamBoy - FIC was an FRC subsidiary that is now under liquidation in Cayman. It's one of the subsidiaries connected to the loan notes saga with Hope. Presumably that will go away along with the other Hope cases once they actually sign the deal and the Cali case is officially dismissed.

In another FIC related case we saw the liquidators state that Hope could no longer fund the recovery actions and those actions seemed to come to a grinding halt

Here is the filing but it doesn't share any details -https://www.docketbird.com/court-documents/Frontera-Resources-Corporation-et-al-v-Hope-et-al/NOTICE-by-Frontera-Resources-Corporation-Notice-of-Settlement/cand-3:2019-cv-01996-00116?user_id=guest

Settlement reached.