Rafael Ramírez needs no introduction. While most people know him as the former CEO of PDVSA, former Minister of Energy, and former Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN, we recognize him as the architect of the largest corruption scheme the world has ever seen. Under his leadership, PDVSA generated nearly $1.3 trillion in revenue, of which little remains today. Yet, like a broken clock, even a completely corrupt thug like Ramírez gets it right occasionally, and indeed, he is entirely correct regarding the illegality of Rosneft’s recent decision to sell its assets in Venezuela to another Russian shell company under Putin’s control.
There exists a law known as the Organic Hydrocarbons Law in Venezuela. It is an organic law, meaning it holds supremacy in the hierarchy of laws. It addresses the formation of joint ventures and various other aspects. Concerning the formation and operation of mixed companies, Article 33 states, “Any subsequent modification of these conditions must also be approved by the National Assembly, following a favorable report from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and the Permanent Commission on Energy and Mines.”
This means that any modification (i.e., divestment of shares) post the original formation of the joint ventures must be approved by the National Assembly, following a favorable report from the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and the Permanent Commission on Energy and Mines of the National Assembly.
Then Rosneft decides to “divest” its stake in various joint ventures with PDVSA and simply announces it to the media, which regurgitates the statement without questioning the legality of the action.
The true intentions of Rosneft were clearly exposed by Sergio Mélik-Bagdasárov, the Russian ambassador to Venezuela, when he stated that it was merely a transfer of assets from Rosneft to Putin’s regime.
Before Rosneft, Gazprombank decided to “divest its participation in Petrozamora,” claiming, “An indirect minority stake in Petrozamora JV was sold to a group of investors with no ties to the Gazprombank group.” Reuters hastened to publish this, again without hesitation.
Then we have Nynas in Sweden, a joint venture between PDVSA and Neste from Finland, where PDVSA holds the majority. Nynas came under administration, due to US Treasury sanctions on PDVSA. Administrators were appointed. A reorganization/ restructuring plan is currently being discussed, with the Swedish tax agency claiming to be a part of it.
A joint venture was formed between Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V. (Derwick thugs + Gazprom / Gazprombank thugs) and the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (CVP – representing PDVSA) called Petrozamora. Petrozamora became the largest crude supplier to Nynas. Nynas was unable to settle accounts with Petrozamora due to banks fearing they would infringe the Treasury sanctions. As a result, about $360 million accumulated in various escrow accounts.
Before this mess, Gazprombank of Russia (not Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V. registered in the Netherlands) announced that it would sell its stake in Petrozamora (it did not officially have one), to a “group of investors with no ties to the Gazprombank group.” GPB Energy, the same Gazprombank thugs who originally did business with Derwick, thanks to a certain Rafael Ramírez, was mentioned.
Indeed, GPB Energy claims through a lawyer in Sweden (Setterwalls) that represents the “largest crude supplier” to Nynas in the reorganization proceedings, namely Petrozamora.
The Treasury issued a new license to Nynas on April 3, authorizing certain activities. If our interpretation is correct, Gazprombank as the parent company, Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V. as a partner of CVP in Petrozamora, and GPB Energy fall into the category of blocked persons under existing sanctions related to Ukraine, and should not receive funds during Nynas’s reorganization process.
To summarize:
– Gazprombank announced it would exit Petrozamora in March 2019, selling its stake to a “group of investors with no ties to the Gazprombank group”;
– Nynas entered administration in December 2019, with a debt of about $360 million to Petrozamora;
– In January 2020, GPB Energy (the same Russian thugs linked to Gazprom who formed Petrozamora through Gazprombank Latin America Ventures B.V.) claimed Nynas’s $360 million debt to Petrozamora, nearly a year AFTER Gazprombank announced it was “leaving Venezuela.”
Needless to say, the Venezuelan National Assembly has not even discussed, let alone approved, such divestment. PDVSA has not officially commented on the matter either. We can think of a couple of questions for Rafael Ramírez: why does he criticize Rosneft’s recent announcement when he said nothing about the exact same action by Gazprombank last year? Isn’t it true that he is the one who rolled out the red carpet for Rosneft and Gazprombank’s entry into Venezuela?
If proof ever was needed regarding the constant stream of fake news and propaganda from Russia, Nynas’s reorganization process demonstrates that their “divestments in Venezuela” are complete nonsense.