Member Info for Madpunter

Posted by Looed on the 7th June :-

Pt.4

In 1997, our contract began with the state signing an agreement under which we would take the entire investment risk on ourselves to carry out the work and find and then extract the oil and gas from these fields. No capital investment is a state obligation, it does not invest any money and most of the oil (more than half) belongs to the Georgian government completely free of charge. If all this fails, the whole risk of investing is ours and only the company will fail in this case. Fortunately, our relationship developed very successfully. During this time and as a result of a $ 560 million investment, we have discovered 350 billion cubic meters of extractable gas. This is south-eastern Georgia, mainly in the Kakheti region. And also 1.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, which have been confirmed not only by our employees and scientists, but also by world famous stock certification companies, which means that the vast majority of these reserves belong to the state completely free of charge.

Could you please determine the “Frontera's” business interest, here if possible?

Less than half of the oil and gas extracted from this agreement is the share of “Frontera”. However, investments made through this share must be reimbursed and only then will it benefit from gas and oil. But the state, from the very first day of our work in 1997, has been virtually profitable, as the state has generated revenue since the Frontera began operations in the country, and this is about $ 30-40 million a year. And in 2013, although there were always some difficulties, and this is natural, because such activities are always accompanied by certain difficulties, somehow we coped with everything, but since 2013, practically, completely new heights have been conquered by our problems, because it became very difficult to actually work with the Oil and Gas Corporation, the Ministries of Economy and Energy. And, every day, and every year, the work and investment environment where we found ourselves from 2013 onwards was getting worse and worse.

Mr. Zaza, we have the first listener online. Let’s listen and continue with my questions afterwards. 2 988 327 is the radio number of „Radio Tavisufleba” and our guest is Zaza Mamulaishvili, the head of "Frontera Risouris Georgia". good morning. You are on the air!

Hello, Mr. Zaza. Hello. My question is - how much oil was extracted in Georgia annually? And what does 1 drilling rig and an operation cost of vertical mineshaft?

Thanks for the question. 2 988 327 is the phone number. We listen to you, Mr. Zaza. Please, answer the listener

Posted by Looed on the 7th June :-

Pt.3

We thought that would be the case, because this is exactly the kind of partnership we have been working on since 1997. And, especially, even this period that you mentioned, from 2013, in 2004, we became the first company in the history of Georgia to mobilize capital on the stock exchange of one of the projects in Georgia, we did the listing for the first time and it was then about $100 million. It happened for the first time in the history of the country and all this money was spent on the Georgian investment project and thus introduced Georgia to the stock market of the world capital. It was a huge success. Then, with this capital, with the money that was spent, it happened that we were very successful in drilling, seismic, research, and we found a very large supply of both oil and natural gas. And this stock has been confirmed by the most famous large American stock certification companies. And, that's why we thought it was such a great success not only for the company but for the whole country that we thought our partners in Georgia would present us in positive way, because we could also talk about it, of course, and by the way, on the London Stock Exchange, we were constantly talking about it because we even had an obligation to do so, but it didn't seem to be enough to make the public in Georgia better informed about our activities, which unfortunately is "better late than never", so now we've started talking about what we were doing, what we are doing and what we are going to do in the future.

Well, perhaps this is the result of this deficit, if you can say so, now, because that's ... how can I say ... Against the background of conflicting information and in such a situation you have to talk about the success or failure of the company in this case. However, let's use this time as much as possible to provide this information to our audience. Let’s be clear, to be somewhat brief, I understand that time is limited in airtime, how did it start? Under what conditions did it start? I mean in 1997. What property, what activities, what obligations are connected with the activities of "Frontera"?

Posted by Looed on the 7th June :-

Pt.2
Yes, this is a common practice, because of the nature and type of activity, it is not uncommon to be represented by several subsidiaries. In particular, in this case, Ms. Nino, these subsidiaries are the parties to the agreements with the state, and under this agreement another operating company was established, called “Frontera Eastern Georgia”, and together with the Oil and Gas Corporation, it carries out oil and gas operations on behalf of the company.
Thank you so much for this explanation and let’s move on to the issue itself. Our audience, and the public, in general, has recently come to understand the name of your company frequently. In the last few years, it should be said that this is not a matter of the last year and the last months, the company has not gained relevance in recent months, your company is mentioned in the letters sent from the United States in the context of assessing the environmental benefits of investing in Georgia. Also, our listeners probably know that the case in the Arbitration Court is over and you and the applicant (in this case - the state, the Georgian company) have different assessments about the results of this case, how can both parties to the dispute shall consider the same decision successful. If you can tell us more about it, as well as the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and the agency, their representatives state (their last statement was on May 18, on their own page) that "Frontera” was trying to politicize the case from the beginning." If you can tell us more about it. It is also known that the corporation requests the disclosure of the arbitral decision and states that it agrees on it, but you refuse. If you can explain these issues.

With great pleasure. And, thanks for this opportunity, that I am able to explain exactly the issues that we often hear lately. To be honest, I wished that ... I would like the name "Frontera" to be more widely known as a result of the excellent results, after investing $ 550 million, we got it as a result of our work and created a huge value for the country.

What is the reason that the public, as you have mentioned, does not have this information?

This is probably our fault, because we have always thought that we would not produce advertising products because we are searching for and consuming oil and gas, so since we were not producing advertising products, we thought it would be unreasonable to be overly informed about our activities. Our partner, in this case the State Corporation of Oil and Gas, could have covered more broadly about the successes we have achieved over the years, and besides, Ms. Nino, we have been ...

Through all these years, Mr. Zaza? Periods are also important here, as your critique is more related to the period after 2013, and it is also mentioned in letters from the United States. Did you expect the corporation to take care of the success of this company all the time?

Posted by Looed on the 7th June :-

Transcript of Radio Interview around 1st June
"The guest of today's program will be the head of the American company "Frontera Resources Georgia" operating in Georgia, Zaza Mamulaishvili. We will air him in a few minutes, but before that I want to provide you with updated information on one or two stories. After our broadcast yesterday, there was a small difference in statistics regarding the spread of coronavirus in Georgia.

(It then spends a few minutes clarifying the statistic issue)

As for the main issue of our program today and our guest, today we will talk about the company, the work of the company in Georgia and the ongoing processes around it, which have been mentioned many times in recent years in correspondence sent to the Georgian government by the United States Congressmen and not only. Today we are talking about the “Frontera”, which is associated with a number of questions. There are issues that cannot be discussed in public, however, we will try to get answers from our guest on the part that we can talk about and what we can share with our audience. “Radio Tavisufleba” is speaking, it is 10 hours and 6 minutes in Georgia and we continue the program "Dilis Saubrebi" (Morning Conversations). I welcome Mr. Zaza Mamulaishvili, the head of “Frontera Resources Georgia”. Mr. Zaza, Good morning.

Good morning, Ms. Nino.

I have one question at the beginning. Did I introduce you correctly as the head of “Frontera Resources Georgia”? Because the company has a number of registered names, in which "Frontera" is listed. On the part of it is your name, on other part of it is Nikoloz Mamulaishvili. Let's start from this, if you please.

Yes, you presented me correctly and I thank you for this.

As for the rest of the companies, are these interconnected companies or what they has to do with that. Please explain us.

Of course. “Frontera Resources Corporation” is a Texas-based company headquartered in Houston, Texas. I am the president and CEO of this company. The company operates in several different countries in the oil and gas exploration business and various subsidiaries carry out various types of work so that even in Georgia we are represented by several subsidiaries. These are “Frontera Resources Georgian Corporation”, “Frontera Resources US LLC”, “Frontera Eastern Georgia”. So it’s no surprise that we are represented by several subsidiaries during our 23 years of work in the country.

And is it related to the diversity of activities? In other words, what is the cause?

The previous post by EkXoc was on the 7th June.

Posted by DomFok on the 7th June :-

RE: Trump to pull 9500 military out of germany
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/politics/trump-nato-contribution-nato/index.html

“ One US defense official said that the money saved by the US will help fund other US military and security efforts in Europe, including programs in countries such as non-NATO members Ukraine and Georgia, which are seen as being on the frontline with Russia.”

Posted by keysersoze on the 6th June :-

Part 2
If Georgia really wants a long-term Georgian-American strategic partnership, then the question is, why are you working so hard (Sorry if much of this is repeat)

working so hard and spending so much money to terminate the contract of the largest investor in the United States? Now that the government's legal action against Frontera has come to an end, we hope to close this door in a constructive spirit and send a stronger and more encouraging signal to American companies. We strongly believe that Georgia will have many years of successful American private investment. "

At the end of April 2020, the Georgian State Oil and Gas Agency announced that it was terminating its contract with Frontera based on the decision of the Arbitration Tribunal because the company had violated the terms.

Posted by EkXoc on the 6th June :-

This is new, and goes a long way to explaining Zaza stance.
So is this clearly stated in the award?

"In the same year, an arbitrary attempt to terminate the contract was initiated against our company, which was later declared illegal by the Arbitration Court. Why? Favorable conditions for natural gas imports were given to Gazprom and SOCAR, and the Georgian government held talks with the Iranian government on gas imports."

Posted by keysersoze on the 6th June :-

Georgia has moved to a Russian-style kleptocracy - Frontera leaders are appealing to Gakharia

15:22; 04-06-2020

Steve Nicandros, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Frontera Research Corporation, and Zaza Mamulaishvili, President of the company, will address the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia, in writing.

The letter states that Georgia has come to the Russian-style kleptocracy and is disguised as a sharer of American democratic values ??and a free market. The letter also states that the investment and business environment in Georgia has deteriorated sharply, which does not recognize the rule of law, uses the court as a weapon and prefers to seize the state.
"Since 2013, we have seen growing anti-American sentiment and discriminatory attitudes toward important American investments and American NGOs, the systematic collapse of the free economic market. As a result, Georgia has moved to a Russian-style kleptocracy that is only disguised as a sharer in American democratic values ??and a free market. This political notion is intended only to receive continuous American assistance from the U.S. government. This farce must end

In the same year, an arbitrary attempt to terminate the contract was initiated against our company, which was later declared illegal by the Arbitration Court. Why? Favorable conditions for natural gas imports were given to Gazprom and SOCAR, and the Georgian government held talks with the Iranian government on gas imports. At the same time, the Frontier's attempt to seize the gas field in eastern Georgia, which could have provided cheaper and more competitive gas to Georgian consumers, has been repeatedly challenged by the state, with state media misinformation and expropriation. Why? In 2016,
the Chinese CEFC was given a 75% controlling stake in the Poti Strategic Free Economic Zone. You have personally visited China to sign a contract. However, the company has failed to meet its $ 150 million investment commitment, which has resulted in neither fines nor public criticism. However, you have publicly mentioned "Frontera" as an unscrupulous company, and this is while the Frontera has invested more than $ 500 million in Georgia, despite the commitment of only $ 18 million. He also discovered the oil and gas reserves that will make Georgia independent of energy
Your government has launched an arbitration dispute against the largest American investor in Georgia, Frontera, in order to cancel the contract. Why? Like all companies that have resisted anti-American clerical policies, we have become the target of a state-sponsored and slanderous campaign by the Russian media, using suspiciously similar fake news against our company, including our work and arbitration decisions. Why? All sides have suffered as a result of the costly and unsuccessful attack carried out by your government.

Posted by keysersoze on the 6th June :-

https://formulanews.ge/News/30318
4th june

American companies have not been among the favorites of the Georgian Dream again. Among them is Frontera, which is preparing to acquire oil and gas in Kakheti. Before starting the works, the company sent an open letter to the Prime Minister of Georgia. The appeal concerns Russian businesses facing greenhouse conditions in Georgia - including Rosneft and Gazprom - the government has recently renewed contact with. This selective approach casts doubt on Frontera's intention to persecute American companies in the country, creating signs of "Russian kleptocracy."

The addressee did not want to talk about the accusations of American businessmen. Although he had the opportunity, Giorgi Gakharia held a government session today and spoke for 15 minutes on various issues. Instead of asking the Prime Minister, the Minister of Economy had to answer the questions

The arbitration dispute, which the parties are talking about, ended in April. Details of the decision are confidential. However, the position of the American congressmen is known. They have criticized the Georgian government several times over a dispute with Frontera - Giorgi Gakharia was the addressee of the most severe letters at the time. The opposition says the government's actions are damaging the country's image.

The opposition suspects that the government is carrying out Russia's orders here as well. The fact is that the state has spent several million dollars on arbitration disputes with Frontera. A previous letter from Frontera revealed that the government's legal advisers had received more than 30 million GEL for the dispute.

https://formulanews.ge/?action=filter&m=46&kw=????????&date=

Each interview on 4th june has brief explanation in georgian. Use Google translate if ur interested in reading.

Posted by keysersoze on the 6th June :-

Part TV Interview translation from 4th June
Mamulaishvili: They provide false information to the population

04 June 202022: 29

Zaza Mamulaishvili, General Director of Frontera International Georgia, said in the program "Policy Formula" that the government is providing false information to the population.

"It has been disguised for years. They have been trying to disguise it as if our strategic development relationship was with the United States. Carries out and has an office in the United States, not actually 10 Egeti. They are giving false information to the population, ”Zaza Mamulaishvili said.

We would like to remind you that the company "Frontera" accuses the Georgian government of neglecting the court decision. This is stated in an emergency letter sent to the Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.

Posted by DomFok on the 6th June :-

"Frontera" VS Government of Georgia
Long discussion about Frontera
She interviews Zaza at -15.35

Posted by Earsbern on the 6th June :-

Well, whatever he's saying, he's selling his point well. All the news programs seem to be queuing up to give him air time, so they obviously think that his arguments are highly relevant and worth putting on for the viewers - and for c. 1/2 hr at a time. To do that with a panoply of differing interviewers takes some doing. I take my hat off to him.
https://palitranews.ge/video/sakme-frontera-vs-sakartvelos-mtavroba

Posted by DomFok on the 6th June :-

Giorgi Vashadze (Leader of one the opposition parties)
Mentioned Frontera at the end of interview
(He seems to be in contact with the 'west’)

https://fortuna.ge/fortuna/post/maqvs-garkveuli-informacia-dasavletistvis-miughebeli-figuraa-ra-utkhres-giorgi-vashadzes-partniorebma/

"I have some information ... he is an unacceptable figure for the West" - what Giorgi Vashadze's partners told him

Snippet from the end -
- What will the West do for this: we remember the harsh letters, even in private conversations, if you go to talk about it, what information do you have?

- I can directly say that he is already doing it. I have some information, I just don't have the right to talk about many things, otherwise I know everything well.

- Are they directly saying that they should go in the fall?

- They can't say that, but there are many questions about "Gazprom". No one can find out why these negotiations are taking place. As well as the issue of Iran, the issue of "Frontera", etc. There are a lot of questions and a lot of conversation going on about it.

Posted by Earsbern on the 6th June :-

RE: New court case?
Some time ago, when Outrider first started the FRCC liquidation procedure in NY (and when I still had visual access to the NY dockets!) there was a claim listed under 'Harris County' for payment of a debt of some sort (sorry, but I have no details). The money claimed by 'Excellence in IS Solutions Inc' must, I suppose, be that same debt, so the debt itself is not new. The new claim does seem to imply, though, that Excellence ISSI has not been able to satisfy their claim through the FRCC liquidation process. Perhaps the debt simply wasn't part of FRCC's responsibility.

Posted by Looed on the 6th June :-

Earsbern - I think you are right. In the document list related to the new court case there does seem to be a document from 2009 referred to as "Ex. B - FEGL-2009 XCare-1.pdf.pdf"

Strangely, The company website states this -

"X-ISS successfully designs, deploys, and manages HPC & IT solutions for mid-size and large organizations. The Company’s clientele has included global Fortune 100 firms within the oil and gas, life sciences, financial services, and manufacturing industries such as Dell, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, IBM, M.D. Anderson, the Office of George Bush, Frontera Resources, and GX Technology."

Then under "Success Stories" there is a quote from FRR -

"Reggie Spiller, Frontera Resources

“X-ISS helped our business get to another level by leveraging IT. We expect things to work. With X-ISS, things always work.”

- https://x-iss.com/client-testimonials/reggie-spiller-frontera-resources/

Posted by StarRage on the 6th June :-

Looed, the 2009 document is the date of the contract which Frontera signed with XIS. The unpaid invoices, which are the cause of the dispute, date from Oct 2017 through to Nov 2019.

No worries. I can post a copy of the docs if you want to see, though it's fairly standard stuff. This is the main complaint doc.

https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ak7gVwQ3mttlnThK0yhVOp-n95uy?e=nMIwxu

Apologies Looed, not sure why the link isn't working. I'll have a look and see if I can see what the problem is. The invoices and penalties doc is just a list of invoices and their amounts where payment wasn't received - total $64,705 over 52 invoices. It seems mad to me that they carried on supplying services for so long when they weren't receiving payment. In the claim there is also a request for attorney fees of no less than $21,568.

Looed, just tried creating another login id without using a proxy server and it worked fine. On the contact details page I just added an entry in the 'First Name' box and left everything else blank. Might be worth giving that a try.

Posted by Goit on the 6th June :-

Silly question?
Who enforces an abitration ruling? If both sides can claim to have won and refuse to release the ruling. How is any abitration decision practical, if one side can be awkward and just put their fingers in their ears and say whatever outcome they want to no scrutiny. All seems a bit flawed to me. "Here's your decision, if you want it enforcing you have to go to court again lol"

Posted by Looed on the 6th June :-

RE: Silly question?
Goit - in theory it should be relatively straightforward - "Under the New York Convention, Article III requires courts in contracting states to recognize international arbitral awards as binding and enforce them" and "It is often easier to enforce arbitration awards in a foreign country than court judgments"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_arbitration

Based on the following, it would seem we are at Step 1 -
"There are, in effect, two ways of seeking enforcement of an arbitral award: through informal channels or through the relevant local courts. Where a losing party fails to comply voluntarily with an award, it is usually advisable to explore the informal channels first. In the context of international commercial arbitral awards, these informal methods often consist of applying commercial, diplomatic or reputational pressure, for example through the losing party’s home government."
https://www.financierworldwide.com/enforcing-international-commercial-arbitral-awards#.XtsTYS17HGJ

And

"Provided that both the country in which the award was ordered and the country in which the enforcement will take place are signatories to the NYC and the arbitration award meets the NYC’s basic requirements e.g. it is in writing and is signed, the award will be recognised as binding and can be enforced by the party in any other signatory states with the assistance of the local courts."
http://www.hfw.com/downloads/HFW-client-guide-enforcing-arbitration-awards.pdf

If both sides are taking a "Stage 1" approach and decide they are not getting the outcome they desire, then "Stage 2" should in theory be simple - the local courts are obligated to enforce the Award.

Posted by Looed on the 6th June :-

New court case?
I came across this, dated 1st June-

The Harris County Civil Court reported the following activities in the suit brought by Exellence in Is Solutions Inc. against Frontera Resources Corp. and Steve Nicandros on June 1.

'Efile Original Petition'

'Original Petition (oca)'

Case number 1155531 was filed in the Harris County Civil Court on June 1.

Its a commercial debt case. It states - "CITATION TO BE ISSUED ***OWES COPY FEES FOR EXHIBITS***"

Excellence in Solutions Inc provide "management consulting services".

The records can be accessed via this site - but it needs a USA address and contact details to access
the files. There are 27 pages including details of unpaid invoices and penalties.

https://www.cclerk.hctx.net/Applications/WebSearch/CourtSearch_R.aspx?ID=7sEuXTcTvvTGPqUccCknhoInzOeggS9/VsSkTmbvCpg5Yc4VUkSw9D2BoqhBlJX59OE2hF/v/Ic5t1p2WmfC5JJfFDNhxg09dvg+GlDfunfNV6XuvHhn0bxkJkkZ/NDa#

News round up
More on the Opposition galvanising its election strategy
- https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/107765-giga-bokeria-nika-melia-neutralized-the-statements-of-other-members-of-the-united-national-that-caused-a-serious-inconvenience

“We train together – we fight together”. Joint Georgian and U.S. military preparation efforts and training before deploying
- https://ge.usembassy.gov/joint-geous-military-preparation-efforts-and-training/

"New challenges and dwindling returns for Russia’s national champions, Gazprom and Rosneft" This is a long read but has a lot of useful info on how these companies are political weapons domestically and internationally.

"Gazprom has been used as a vehicle for the Russian Federation’s foreign policy and has been notorious for frequently cutting supplies to Eastern Europe over trumped-up pretexts. A study by the Swedish Defense Research Agency concluded that Russia used “coercive energy policy,” such as supply cuts, strongarm pricing, and sabotage, fifty-five times from 1991 until 2006. Of these incidents, thirty-six had political and forty-eight had economic underpinnings. Gazprom was the dominant actor in sixteen of them. The main targets have been Lithuania, Georgia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova."

- https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/new-challenges-and-dwindling-returns-for-russias-national-champions-gazprom-and-rosneft/

Posted by EkXoc on the 5th June :-

Cheer up Mole.
If we are capable to entering the bidding later in the year we may well have some serious firepower behind us plus lots of contacts and kudos with the new Government, if it doesn;t work out it wouldn't have mattered anyway. As has been seen there are nlot many serious comnpanies willing to take on the eastern block for the reasons we rae all too familar with sure there is BLOE but if we are still in existance when the time comes I suspect FRR will be a much greater force to be reckoned with than BLOE.
As for the employees, sure its not good but its pretty clear it was never hte intention of FRR to create this situation you can hardly blame them, its possible FRR have used the unemployment plotivally to their advantage as if to say cut off western investmetn you create unemployment.. doesn;t look good for the current government.
What we are seeing in the media really is unfolding the real issues here.. those issues run deepand are ironically more important to all of us that whatever investment we have made, if Europe becomes energy thrall to Russia we will be in a very bad position indeed.
Good Luck all.

Posted by Madpunter on the 5th June :-

Mole - While the Basin Edge is very prospective, with decades of potential hydrocarbon extraction from Taribani; pipeline capacity limitations; limited local market (Georgia); and a world that is moving away from fossil fuels, the Basin Edge may never be produced. Similarly, when gas from Georgia is supplying the Ukraine, will Dolphin be economically viable.

Posted by Moleinahole on the 5th June :-

CF73 I'm still pretty miffed about a large part of the 99% we may have lost (let alone the prospect of it being 100%!). Basin Edge whilst challenging almost certainly was very prospective for a company with deeper pockets. The deeper gas prospect spread from far to the north of taribani and down to the edge of the block and to the east through Mirzani out towards Basin edge. Whilst there is likely high value in the 1% bit that's left - the lost bit is very significant and its a mistake to mimimise it or characterise it as wasteland as I've seen a few call it. Its unproven but likely contains significant reserves that need the right technology and funding to extract profitably. And that has always been the challenge in Georgia. On the Geology and possibly politics the Schlumberger exit from block 10 remains of interest. They have gone deeper to look for gas and based on what they saw and maybe their own financial plans have exited leaving a residual interest in the asset via Block. Those results should provide a reasonable read across to parts of block 12. All this is why the company have tried hard to avoid relinquishing.
Its also not impossible for FRR to join the bidding when the blocks come back to tender - that of course could occur after the elections! So always possibilities here both ways as the board attempt to navigate a way through this. But the way the employees seem to have got caught in the cross fire of GG and Outrider along with shareholders has been very unfortunate and should not be forgotten. I'm not comfortable personally as a shareholder that the company employees have suffered in this period.
But you are correct the politics is a difficult dimension to attribute risk in an investment.
The sooner we know what we have lost the better and the sooner the next events unfold will allow clarity for shareholders and employees on the future direction.

Posted by Arnie26 on the 5th June :-

Zaza
I sincerely hope Zaza is wearing Kevlar and not entering any tall buildings. His head is well above the parapet now.
I fully support his actions.
Stay safe Zaza

Posted by CF73 on the 5th June :-

FRR
Just a few quick thoughts after all this news,

1. Thanks to DomFok, in particular, and also to Looed, not ot mention the number of other regulars here. Has got to best ever board as far as a deslisted share is concerned

2. I am not pleased that our investments are so heavily entangled in geopolitics of this kind (I say this as a one-time student of international relations). But I guess I should have been more open to this possibility - it is energy after all.

3. It seems ever more increasingly clear (to me at least) that FRR came out of arbitration OK, that we retained the 1% that mattered

4. ...that GG are increasingly desperate (they could have just tried let it go away quietly but have not, perhaps under pressure from Russia - but it will blow back in their faces and clearly has started to).

5. If GG had played fair, imagine how, after all this time and all this despair, what the company might be able to tell us and, indeed, how it might open in terms of business as normal (or perhaps am being too optimistic?)

6. I do not buy into the idea that one-side is inherently good and the other bad. The present situations of the US and Russia are a testiment to that. What I do understand and accept is that Russia are an impediment to my investment. For that reason, I hope they throughly lose!

7. If I had known the levels of geopolititics involved with FRR, I would have avoided it, to be honest.

8. How FRR have survived to this point is nothing short of miraculous.

9. I sense GG softening in their position.

10. Lets hope that GG pull back very soon and allow us to realise fruit of all that hard work and hope.

Posted by gotreal on the 5th June :-

RE: Headline news
And more... Zaza looking very cool and purposeful.

https://youtu.be/_dT0Tqe8n5A

Posted by Moleinahole on the 5th June :-

RE: Asset transfers etc.
Armoured bear it's not that easy to transfer an asset when you owe alot of debt unless you take the debt with you. Whether you realised it or not that has always been one of the greatest risks here due to the high level of debt to revenue the company has run. As with any debt it's the serviceability that matters not the debt itself as long as it's borrowed against an asset that's worth more than the debt.
You can't easily transfer an asset to an entity connected to yourself and leave debt behind.
However, if you default or can't pay and a capital restructure results then you can never rule out a management buy out of the asset at a steep discount when a company is distressed. But we would get to vote on that.
The greatest risk has always been Outrider working with the management on such a venture. That is exactly what happened at Madagascar oil. In our case the board to date have done the opposite and took on Outrider directly rather than acquiesce which could have happened in 2016/17. Indeed the board seem to have been forced to convert all their own debt into shares with a lock in and go unsecured. It's things like that which show they are aligned to shareholders.
So whilst I'd never rule anything out here I remain broadly of the view that inspire of the silence it's not because we have been forgotten and forsaken but things have not progressed how they needed/hoped they would with both Outrider and arbitration.
The politics is now fully on display which has for a long time been one of the other major risks for the company.
The risk to your investment is greater from Outrider and the GG than Steve and Zaza running off with a contested asset. You can never rule out an offer but in this case I think the protagonist would be Outrider if that happenned which might explain in part why they want shares Steve and Zaza pledged. Either because they have value, to excercise leverage. Last we heard the company only had @1bn shares headroom left. So we can't get dilluted that way without an AGM.
It's the unfortunate interaction of the Outrider debt and the threat to the asset by GG that has made this a difficult situation. It's hard to raise equity or borrow when your asset is at risk. In FRR case it's faced a double whammy from Outrider and the GG.

Posted by gotreal on the 5th June :-

Headline news
https://youtu.be/wvhzCf8Nx7Y

This should get things moving!