Gold Reserve | 24 February 2025
Gold Reserve announces Portugal court enters judgment against Venezuela confirming arbitration award valued in excess of $1.1 billion
Pembroke, Bermuda – Gold Reserve Ltd. (TSX.V: GRZ) (OTCQX: GDRZF) (“Gold Reserve” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce an important development in its ongoing efforts to recognize and enforce its arbitral award dated September 22, 2014 (the “Award”) against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Venezuela”).
On February 20, 2025, the Lisbon Court of Appeal issued an Order granting the Company’s application to confirm the Award in Portugal, and entered judgment for the Company against Venezuela in the amount of $713,032,000 plus (i) pre-award interest in the amount of $22,299,576, (ii) post-award interest on the total amount awarded, inclusive of pre-award interest, at a rate of LIBOR plus 2%, compounded annually, from September 22, 2014, until payment in full; and (iii) $5 million in legal fees and costs (collectively, the “Judgment”).
The total amount of Judgment at present, inclusive of interest, exceeds $1.1 billion.
The Judgment supports the Company’s ongoing efforts to enforce the Award in Portugal. In connection therewith, the Company has obtained attachment orders against multiple bank accounts in Portugal holding in total more than $1.4 billion. Recovery is not certain in the Portugal legal proceedings due to multiple factors. Among other considerations, further court orders are required to attempt to collect against any of the attached funds, and the priority of the Company’s attachments on each bank account is not identical and is not definite, as is the priority of the Company’s attachments vis-à-vis other creditors.
The Company’s recognition and enforcement efforts in Portugal are in addition to those being undertaken in the United States, including the Company’s ongoing participation in the sales and bidding procedures established by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware for the sale of the shares of PDV Holdings, Inc. (“PDVH”), the indirect parent company of CITGO Petroleum Corp. Any recovery in the Delaware proceedings will offset the amount that can be recovered on the Award in the Portugal legal proceedings, and vice versa.
