Member Info for Looed

Small point, but has there been a change(s) to the format here ?

Yesterday this page showed something along the lines of "this share was suspended at a price of 0.38" in the 'share price info' section, but now it is showing the price again. Also, COPL now autofills when you enter it in the search window, it wasn't doing that before.

Consistent with previous quarters, Conerstone earned $80K in Q2 lobbying for FRC

https://disclosurespreview.house.gov/ld/ldxmlrelease/2021/Q2/301289770.xml

A visit to www.interpressnews.ge should give folks a quick overview of the recent events that Earsbern is referencing.

Pt.3 (final part)

15. The deadline for Defendants to amend their pleadings shall be no later than February 28, 2022.
Pre-Trial Exchange of Witnesses, Exhibits and Designation of Deposition Testimony
16. Counsel will exchange their respective list of fact and expert/witnesses, including rebuttal witnesses that reasonably should be anticipated, that each intends to call at trial no later than 14 business days before trial.
17. Counsel shall exchange a list of exhibits that each reasonably anticipates will be offered in evidence no later than 14 business days before trial.
18. Counsel shall exchange page and line references for all deposition testimony to be offered in the case in chief no later than 10 business days before trial.
19. Counsel shall exchange cross-designations of page and line references of all deposition testimony to be used at trial. Counsel shall also provide a written statement of page and line references to designations that are the subject of any evidentiary objections, including the basis for the objections no later than 6 business days before trial.
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN AND SCHEDULING ORDER MOURANT OZANNES V. NICANDROS, ET AL PAGE 2 OF 3

Motions In Limine
20. Counsel shall exchange Motions in Limine no later than 10 business days before trial.
Jury Charge
21. Each party shall serve on al1 other parties a proposed jury charge, including questions, definitions and instructions, which shall include citation to the Texas Pattern Jury Charge or other authority that supports the submission no later than 10 business days before trial.
Pre-Trial Conference
22. Known pre-trial motions and disputes over Motions in Limine will be heard at the Court’s pre-trial conference.
Trial Date — Jury Trial
23. This case is set for jury trial on __________________________________ , 2022.

Pt.2

DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN AND SCHEDULING ORDER

The Court, having considered the Motion To Compel Entry Of A Scheduling Order of Steve Nicandros, is of the opinion the Motion has merit and should be granted.
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
Modification Permitted By Subsequent Rule 11 Agreement
1. The time periods and terms of this Discovery Control Plan and Scheduling Order may be modified by a Rule 11 Agreement signed by all of the parties, by an agreement on the record announced by all of the parties or by further Orders of this Court.
Level 3 Case
2. This case is a Level 3 case.
Joinder of Parties
3. All parties shall be joined, whether by amendment of pleadings or by third- party practice no later than September 17, 2021.
Designation of Testifying Experts and Expert Reports
4. Plaintiff will designate its testifying experts in accordance with TEX. R. CIV. PROC. 194.2(f) no later than October 8, 2021.
5. Defendants will designate their testifying experts in accordance with TEX. R. CIV. PROC. 194.2(f) no later than October 29, 2021.
6. All experts, whether for the Plaintiff or Defendant, must file written reports no later than ten business days (10) days after their designation. These reports must provide their factual observations, tests, supporting data, calculations, photographs and opinions.
7. Drafts of expert reports and correspondence with experts are agreed to be not subject to discovery.
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN AND SCHEDULING ORDER MOURANT OZANNES V. NICANDROS, ET AL PAGE 1 OF 3

Mediation
8. Mediation must be completed by November 29, 2021.
Written Discovery and Depositions
9. All written discovery must be served, answered and supplemented no later than November 29, 2021.
10. All depositions must be completed no later than December 30, 2021.
11. Each party may serve no more than fifty (50) written interrogatories on any
other party, excluding interrogatories requesting that a party identify or authenticate specific documents.
Dispositive Motions
12. All dispositive motions, including summary judgment motions, must be filed and heard no later than February 4, 2022 unless such date is extended by Court order, or the Court is not available for a hearing on or before the deadline.
Challenges To Expert Witnesses
13. All challenges to expert witnesses must be filed no later than December 15, 2021 and heard on or before February 4, 2022, unless such date is extended by Court order, or the Court is not available for a hearing on or before the deadline.
Deadline To Amend Pleadings
14. The deadline for Plaintiff to amend its pleadings shall be no later than February 14, 2022.

Some new filings by SN that move the case along – Pt.1

"DEFENDANT STEVE NICANDROS’ MOTION TO COMPEL ENTRY OF A SCHEDULING ORDER AND REQUEST FOR AN ORAL HEARING

Movant Steve Nicandros (“Nicandros”) respectfully states:

This is a Level 3 case as the amount in controversy exceeds $1,000,000.00.

Nicandros has paid a jury fee.

Nicandros has attempted to confer with Plaintiff Mourant Ozannes’ and Defendant Zaza Mamulaishvili’s attorneys to obtain agreement for the entry of a scheduling and discovery order, including an agreed trial date. Such efforts have failed to result in a mutually agreeable scheduling and discovery order.

Pursuant to a hearing before the Honorable Michael Landrum on October 30, 2020, Judge Landrum directed that the Parties to this case confer regarding scheduling. Cooperative efforts, pursuant to Judge Landrum’s direction, to obtain agreement have failed.

Nicandros seeks the Court’s assistance in establishing a scheduling and discovery order and a jury trial date.

Pursuant to the rules of the 164th Harris County, Texas District Court, Nicandros requests an oral hearing on his Motion."

And –

NOTICE OF HEARING

"A hearing on Defendant Steve Nicandros’ Motion to Compel Entry of a Scheduling Order and Request For an Oral Hearing is set for oral hearing on September 15, 2021 at 10:30 a.m."

The Appellant - SN etc - have filed their brief and it can be accessed via this link. No log-in required. As you can see they are now requesting an oral hearing.
https://search.txcourts.gov/SearchMedia.aspx?MediaVersionID=c74e3fb7-6578-4db7-bd9b-860eb9b3e60e&coa=coa01&DT=Brief&MediaID=14d6bd5e-0d63-41c5-abb5-d69c79230e10

The court reporters record has now been filed, which means ZM has 20 days to file his brief.

The ruling request will be submitted into court on Monday 26th July.

Mourant have now filed a ruling request for ‘Recognition of a Foreign Country Judgement’ which refers to an earlier ruling in Cayman concerning outstanding legal fees owed to Mourant. SN and ZM had both given personal guarantees for these fees.

To recap - Mourant, with the support of SN, had asked the court to serve ZM via his Texas lawyer.

ZM filed a motion asking the court to deny the Cayman ruling / Mourant attempt to collect fees due etc.

The court favored Mourant, and ZM has been duly served via his Houston lawyer. Hence the request for the judge to support the Cayman ruling in this matter.

Yes all very quiet at the moment. Will update if I get any news.

It's hard to say as the courts don't release records like they do in the USA. Merab Gvilava has previously represented the company in the various attempts to have the transfer of the asset to FRUS registered in the Georgian Registry.

Will let you know if I hear anything.

WHamBoy - They have committed to more open comms, presumably once litigation / situation in Georgia is settled. In the short term, and outside of situations like the ii issue, I don't think they will have anything to say.

As you say, it's encouraging that they respond, and take action, when situations like this occur.

Pt.5 (final part)

J1 - Today, "Frontera" no longer exists in its old form. Therefore, when we say that Frontera lost the arbitration dispute, we should mean Frontera Eastern Georgia, a local branch that went bankrupt and after which, Zaza Mamulaishvili established "Green Capital" and replaced it with it in order to extract oil from Kakheti. Mamulaishvili is trying to extract as much oil as possible in Kakheti with Green Capital and export it from the region. Specialists say it does so with fewer employees required, with many risks and regulations being violated. One of the consequences of this is the uncontrolled flow of oil from wells, which poses a threat to the Vashlovani Nature Reserve, arable land and crops, a unique breed of birds, and also creates a fire-hazardous situation.

J2 - This dispute between the Georgian government and the company clearly shows the catastrophic situation in the country. Incompetent politicians and managers do not have the ability to figure out the situation. People who worked in this industry for many years were doomed to death by a foreign company. The government of the country also turned their backs on them, because the knowledge and experience of specialists exposes both sides to lies.

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdWo1T4bXyg

Pt.4

VL - In November, 84 people filed a lawsuit. On December 17, the company fired us altogether. After a severe reprimand, we were fired for not showing up for work. I think it also happened because we filed a lawsuit. They were not satisfied with the lawsuit. Then in December 2017, we were not paid for the new year. We were all surprised. Then from 2018 we were given a salary every other month, once every 3 months and that 3 month debt was moved to 2019. In 2019, a large amount of oil was exported, 5,000 tons, and we thought we would be paid a minimum wage of 3 months, but that did not happen.

Temur Grigalashvili, former employee (TG) - They made fun of us. Salaries were delayed. It was good from the beginning. Slowly the delay began. For example, if you received your January salary and missed February, and if you received your salary in March, it was called the March salary. February was lost. This was accumulated to 11 months salary. When we did not receive 4-5 months salary, we went on strike. Finally they told us that we could leave anytime we want. I wish I had went on that time. We were extracting 20-25 tons oil each day, and I wonder why such amount of oil cant cover the cost of the personel and the plants and leave the provit as well. 25 tons is too much oil. The solution is that salaries should be given to us otherwise we will not allow anyone to work.

J2 - At the end of 2019, Frontera was sued by about 85 of its employees, including four people (Zaza Tsiklauri, Nodar Arabuli, Avtandil Onanashvili and Gia Kovziridze) who died in such a way that the Sighnaghi District Court has not yet considered the case on unpaid salaries. Gia Kovziridze died of a heart attack in May this year. He owed a bank he could not repay and was left homeless.

Nodar Gomelauri, former employee (NG) - We have been in this dispute for more than 1.5 years. 2 men died earlier, 1 was ill from the beginning, had no money for medicine, the other had no money for surgery. Then one hanged himself, and the 4th died of a heart attack.

Neli Jamalashvili, mother of Gia Kovziridze - They are no longer working for the third year and during this time, they have not received salaries since 2019. They owe him 11-month salary, which is up to $ 5,000. They promised to give us the accumulated salary and because of the fact that we were not able to pay the bank the debts increased. He was very worried that he had no salary, that he was sitting at home, that he had worked for Frontera for 30 years and left him jobless after all this time.

Pt. 3

Nodar Gomelauri, former employee, (NG) - Frontera lost the dispute with them. As for disclosure, both parties must disclose it. They do not make it public, but we know that the state has won. They have to pay to the court about 6 million USD, apart from the debt which they have to pay to the oil and gas corporation. It seems that the government does not want to ruin the relationship with USA. They wanted to terminate the contract with them on July 27 but few days earlier Ms. Turnava and Mr. Gakharia stated that they give the company another change. They did not wat to spoil US-Georgian relationships and let them to continue the work. $250 000 was quite enough for our salaries but they paid it to lobbyist companies.

J2 - This is despite the fact that according to the available information, the arbitration dispute was resolved in favor of Georgian agencies. Formally, Frontera must agree to the publication of the arbitral award, but he argues on the one hand that the case has not been lost and that the majority and most important part of the claims have been decided by the court in his favor, and on the other hand does not agree to its publication.

J1 - While Frontera and its chairman, Steve Nicandros, have spent thousands of dollars since 2017 on lobbyists and political donations, the company's Georgian employees have not been paid for 11 months. Finally, they were left jobless. Former employees of Frontera have sued the company over unpaid salaries. 85 employees said that from December 2016 to November 2019, the company did not pay them salaries regularly, which ended in 11 months of unpaid labor for the period until 2020.

IT - We were extracting the oil which was consumed by the company Frontera. It was exported and we had a salary. You can see for yourself now that everything is stopped. Only a few of them work now. The company did not even admit bankruptcy, and we were all so fired from our jobs because we demanded our 11 months nonpaid debts. Throughout the year of 2019, there was not salary for 2 months, then after 1 month, from 2018 frankly speaking. When we protested against this they told us that we could leave if we don’t want to work. They will give us the reprimand on the first case and after they would fire us. So, this is not clear for me why you should treat these people in this way who want to receive what the earned.

J1 - Within a month of filing the lawsuit, Frontera fired more than 100 employees, including all the complainants. And 6 of them were sued by Frontera for delaying work and demanding $ 7,000 from them.

Pt.2

J1 - In order to end the arbitration dispute in their favor in 2017-2021, the Texas company spent $ 890,000 on lobbying. Following the end of the arbitration dispute in 2017, Republican Senator Steve Russell initiated the Georgia Fair Practices Sanctions Act. The initiative, according to the company’s 2018 internal documentation, was the result of lobbying funded by Frontera. In February 2019, Congressman Markwayne Mullin, a member of Congress from Oklahoma, along with 11 other members of Congress, re-introduced the Georgia Fair Practices Sanctions Act. Of those 11, 8 members of Congress had received donations from Nikandros in 2017-2019.

J2 - "In a letter to the Georgian government, Malin spoke, among other things, about reducing foreign direct investment in Georgia, expropriating the interests of American and European businesses, and citing the oil and gas company Frontera as an example." Georgian politicians also responded to the lobbyists' statements with their usual incompetence and colonial psychology and superficiality.

Giorgi Vashadze, MP (GV) - This is exactly the case with Frontera. One is said, but with the other hand they are fighting against investment, which should create jobs in the country.

Unnamed Politician - This is not only a problem for 1 private company and American investor, but also a very bad signal sent to foreign investors or domestic investors in general.

Mamuka Khazaradze, businessman (MK) - This practically calls into question the strategic relationship that has developed between the United States and Georgia over the last 30 years through a great deal of hard work and energy.

J2 - However, they said nothing about the fate of the people who faced terrible injustice in the process.

J1 - Pressure from Congress continued until July 23, 2020, when the Ministry of Economy did not issue a statement stating that it had won the arbitration dispute, but stated: "In order to maintain the reputation of a country with a model investment environment, the Georgian government has decided not to terminate its contract with Frontera."

J3 - Frontera, involved in an international scandal and exposed in fraud in different countries, is still trying ...

J1 - Therefore, the government has been claiming for years that Frontera was acting in bad faith. The state media referred to the company as an international scammer, but despite all this, the collaboration still continued.

90% of this is old news, but at the end of the translation it does mention ZM and Green Capital

Pt.1

J1 - The American oil company "Frontera Resources" has appeared in Georgia since 1997. In 2014, the company said it had discovered the largest gas reserves in Georgia, which, if exploited, would not only meet local demand but also make it an exporter of gas. The Georgian government has accused the company of lying and speculation. The Georgian Gas and Oil Corporation says that in fact the gas and oil resources in Georgia are minimal.

J2 - Neither side has conducted scientific research to determine the actual amount of resources. Both sides are limited to amateurish statements and mutual accusations.

Iveri Tsiklauri, former employee (IT) - In 2018, the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation sued Frontera in the Arbitration Tribunal for breach of contract for the distribution of products. In an OC Media article, we read that in response, the company involved hired lobbyists and pressure from members of the US Congress to withdraw the lawsuit from the Georgian government.

J1 - As far as I know, the trial has been lost, but Frontera did not want to make the result public. An article was recently posted on Facebook - about 1 million GEL is spent on lobbying to somehow achieve the result they have achieved. One thing I do know certainly is that if they had paid to us only part of the money which was paid to the lobbists, there would not have been any problems so far.

J1 - "Vladimir Putin's puppet is attacking foreign investment in Georgia," Pete Olson, a member of the Texas Republican Congress, said in a January 2020 speech to the United States House of Representatives. Olson named Frontera Resources among the investitions under pressure. The OC Media article also reads that according to the US Federal Election Commission, Steve Nikandros, whose father once chaired the US oil company Konoko and was more of a friend of George W. Bush, has donated $ 73,450 to 16 members of the US Congress and a senator in 2017-2020. The same 16 legislators made public statements in favor of Frontera to the Georgian and American authorities.

Valida Lomashvili, Former employee (VL) - They were receiving many letters. Several congressmen wrote there. We do not know, but I think it turned out that they supported Frontera. Zaza Mamulaishvili himself came out and covered on non-governmental channels that the government was restricting his work, but there was no such thing. On the contrary, he is the one to be blamed for not distributing salaries, illegally dismissing us from work.

I have received the following short message:-

"Frontera changed registered agents in the Caymans several months ago. We will look into this further and revert to you soonest."

Hopefully this a quick fix for those with ii and will push the company to take action to better protect all its shareholders.

Aurora / others - no reply so far. Its July 4th Weekend in the US so if there is to be any messaging, it might not come through until Tues / Weds UK time.