Following up on the story that PDVSA mortgaged to Russia refineries located in the U.S.,
Venezuela Admits Mortgaging Citgo in the USA to Russia, Goes on Attack
After an investigation by Redd Intelligence and the Latin American Herald Tribune uncovered that Venezuela has mortgaged Citgo to Russia’s Rosneft, PDVSA came out swinging, defensively confirming the story and along with Venezuela’s ruling regime, launching an attack on LAHT, REDD and Russ Dallen.
PDVSA’s statement (emphasis added)
did not reveal what they received in exchange for the shares — nor why it was kept secret — but it is believed that Rosneft lent the Venezuelan state oil company $1.5 billion with the above mentioned stake in the Citgo refineries as collateral.
“Citgo is still owned by PDVSA”, PDVSA’s statement begins by saying, but later in the text PDVSA also admits that “in October it used as guarantee a 50.1% of Citgo in a bond swap operation.” If PDVSA defaults, Rosneft and bondholders could end up owning the refineries.
In short, the assets accumulated by previous Venezuela governments over 40 years were liquidated by “chavismo” in less than 10 years and with the proceeds disposed of in a manner not at all transparent.
The article also describes Russia’s expanding energy foothold.
Read the full report.
