Rosneft says no doubt in legitimacy of Venezuelan JV deal

MOSCOW, Feb 10 (PRIME) -- Russian oil major Rosneft has no doubts that the deal on a purchase of additional shares in Venezuela’s Petromonagas, a joint venture with PDVSA, in order to increase its stake in the venture to 40% was legitimate, the company said in a statement on Friday.

In 2016, Rosneft closed a deal to raise its stake in Petromonagas to 40% by buying an additional 23.33% stake in the company for U.S. $500 million from Venezuela’s PDVSA.

But earlier on Friday, newspaper El Universal reported that opposition-led parliament of Venezuela approved an agreement to protest against the sale of the stake in the venture to Rosneft. National Assembly Member Elias Mata called the deal unlawful, saying that it was necessary to ask for parliament’s approval before closing it. The parliament unanimously protested against the deal.

“Rosneft has no doubt in the legitimacy of the purchase of the additional stake in the joint venture with PDVSA – Petromonagas, which ended with the company raising the stake in the project to 40%. The deal was implemented in compliance with norms of the Venezuelan and international law,” Rosneft said.

“According to a conclusion of lawyers, Venezuela’s National Assembly has no power to decide on whether the deal is valid or invalid. Only the Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela has such powers.”

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