Star Phoenix Group Ltd Georgia Update - Serving a Notice of Dispute (7791L)
January 15 2021 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSTA
RNS Number : 7791L
Star Phoenix Group Ltd
14 January 2021
Star Phoenix Group Ltd
("Star Phoenix" or "the Company")
15 January 2021
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY
THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER
THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATIONS (EU) NO. 596/2014 ("MAR"). UPON THE
PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE
("RIS"), THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE
PUBLIC DOMAIN.
GEORGIA UPDATE - SERVING A NOTICE OF DISPUTE
Star Phoenix (AIM: STA), an international company with an
oilfield services business in Trinidad and an oil and gas interest
in Indonesia, is pleased to provide an update in relation to a
legal dispute with the government of the Republic of Georgia
("Georgia") over a production sharing contract dated 29 March 2007
for block VIA (the "PSC").
The Company is pleased to advise that it and Strait Oil and Gas
Limited ("SOG"), a private company incorporated in Gibraltar, in
which Star Phoenix holds a 65% interest and which entered into the
PSC, have engaged new legal advisers Enyo Law LLP ("Advisers") and
have been working with them on progressing an arbitration claim
against the government of Georgia.
The Advisers have now formally notified the government of
Georgia of the existence of an investment dispute under the Energy
Charter Treaty (the "ECT") (the "Notice of Dispute"). The Notice of
Dispute sets out the position on SOG's unfair treatment in Georgia
and how its investment in Georgia, which exceeds US$22 million, has
been damaged. In particular, the Notice of Dispute states that the
termination of the PSC by the Government of Georgia, as well as the
subsequent re-tendering of the same territory as Block VIA, to
which it held exclusive rights under the PSC, was unjustified,
arbitrary and contrary to the provisions of the PSC and has
deprived SOG of the entire value of its investment. Georgia's
measures constitute breaches of the protections established by the
ECT, including, inter alia Georgia's guarantee: (i) to observe
obligations it entered into with SOG by concluding the PSC; (ii)
not to impair by unreasonable or discriminatory measures the
management, maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of the
investment; (iii) that the investment would be accorded fair and
equitable treatment; and (iv) that the management, maintenance,
use, enjoyment or disposal of the investments would not be
nationalised, expropriated or subject to measures having an effect
equivalent to nationalisation or expropriation.
Whilst the Company and SOG continue to hope that an amicable
solution can be found to the present dispute, they fully reserve
all of their rights and remedies arising out of what they strongly
believe to be ECT breaches by the government of Georgia and
formally consent to submit their investment treaty claim under the
ECT to international arbitration.
Background
The Company holds a 65% interest in SOG. SOG entered into the
PSC with over US$22 million spent on development of block VIA. The
minimum work programme stipulated by the PSC had been
satisfactorily completed, as previously confirmed by the State
Agency for Regulation of Oil and Gas Resources of Georgia (the
"Agency"). The PSC granted SOG the exclusive rights of exploration
and production of oil and gas on block VIA until 2032.
As previously announced, during 2017 the Agency announced a new
public tender inter alia for two areas, respectively referred to as
new blocks VIA and VIC. Both of these blocks were carved out of the
block VIA, in relation to which SOG had been awarded exclusive
exploration rights under the PSC. Upon conclusion of the public
tender, exploration rights for these blocks were awarded to new
bidders.
All previous efforts to reach an amicable resolution of this
issue by the Company and SOG with the Agency were unsuccessful.
This announcement has been approved by Chairman Zhiwei (Kerry)
Gu on behalf of the Company.
Contact Details
WH Ireland Limited (Nominated Adviser
Star Phoenix Group Ltd and Broker)
Evgenia Bezruchko (Group Corporate James Joyce / Matthew Chan
Development Manager & Joint Company t. +44 (0)20 7220 1666
Secretary)
e. admin@starphoenixgroup.com
t. +44 (0)20 3865 8430
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
UPDDKQBQCBKDNDD
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 15, 2021 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Star Phoenix (LSE:STA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Star Phoenix (LSE:STA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024